Blog is a Mix Tape

speakeasy: like the fall of rome

nobody@vox.com(Jason) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:46:08 -0700

My husband and I look forward to [Rock of Love 2] every week, sometimes going as far as to privilege it over catching up on “The Wire.” We’re not alone in this guilty pleasure. Conan O’Brien admits his writers are oddly enamored with the program. And the folks at SNL must be too, given Tina Fey’s pitch-perfect impersonation late last month of Bret’s blubber-lipped suitor Daisy. Despite the safety in numbers, though, as the credits rolled last night, I dissolved into shamed giggles, simultaneously revolted and delighted by this pageant of excess and debauchery. “Why do we watch this?” I asked my husband. His response: “To witness America jumping the shark.”

- Clips of America Jumping the Shark, Utne Blogs, 03.18.08

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Speakeasy: Any Given Sunday

nobody@vox.com(Jason) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:44:11 -0800

In a very religious nation, blacks are the most religious of all. Nationally, 83 percent describe themselves as Christian. Accordingly, 67 percent believe in an afterlife in either heaven or hell. Surveys show that only 3 percent of blacks report having no religion but instead are the Americans most likely to participate in religious activities like prayer, Bible reading and worship attendance. They are most likely to strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate and to strongly disagree that Jesus sinned while on earth.
Their church services are even 70 percent longer than whites', and blacks are among the most generous givers to religious organizations; while nationally three out of every four dollars donated go to religious institutions, the figure is nine out of 10 for African-Americans. The black tradition of tithing (a biblical requirement to give a set percentage -- usually 10 -- to the church) is strong enough to have propelled affluent, majority black Prince George's County in Maryland into the top five counties in the nation for charitable donations.
Without a doubt then, blacks are America's most religious group. On any given Sunday, blacks all over America fill church pews to have their hearts and minds filled with ... what? If you guessed turning the other cheek and offering paeans to tolerance, you'd be in for a shock.

- Souls on Ice, Debra J. Dickerson, Salon.com, 11.27.06

Just go head and read the whole thing.

Wow. Ms. Dickerson pulls no punches on this one.

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Ms. Oogie-Boogie

nobody@vox.com(Jason) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:58:33 -0800

Imagine you're a woman working at a company where male colleagues send you X-rated notes, hit on you, and repeatedly grab your breasts -- even once pinch your butt with pliers. To Judge Edith Jones, such depravity does not constitute grounds for a sexual harassment case, though she conceded the facts. During arguments in the case the woman brought against her employers (Waltman v. International Paper), Jones purportedly commented that the behavior of the man who had pinched the woman's breasts wasn't so objectionable since he later apologized. And, added the judge, at least she hadn't been raped.

From the scariest presidential candidate to the scariest billionaire to the scariest cop, these truly are the worst America has to offer. (alternet, 10.30.06)

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