Here's a funny collection of photos of kids horrified at Santa Claus. (Via BoingBoing.) I'll have to remember to scan and post a very old photo of me with Santa. I'm not crying, just very skeptical.
UPDATE: Just corrected some spelling. I note that there is no "e" in Santa Claus. Having written about constitutional law for a long, long time, it is nearly impossible for my fingers to type C-L-A-U-S and not instinctively add an "e." Here's a related laugh.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Free speech in Britain.
Free speech is a hot topic in Britain these days, as a Birmingham theater closes down a play that offended a religious group and touched off a violent protest. Also:
Only last week, the comedian Rowan Atkinson led a call defending "the right to offend," against government plans to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.
Atkinson argues the law would force "creative thinkers" to bite their tongue, and so produce a "veneer of tolerance concealing a snakepit of unaired and unchallenged views."
Monday, December 20, 2004
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.
It seems as though everyone picked today to talk about the insidious plot to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays." Rush Limbaugh: "Boy, it's a big battle this year just saying, "Merry Christmas." Mark Steyn: "Say 'Merry Christmas' while you still can." The San Francisco Chronicle: "Frighteningly retro as it sounds, the honest truth is I miss saying "Merry Christmas."
But I note that President Bush, at his press conference today, said "Happy Holidays" twice. In fact, he made no mention of Christmas, even when responding to a question that asked about troops spending Christmas in Iraq.
But I note that President Bush, at his press conference today, said "Happy Holidays" twice. In fact, he made no mention of Christmas, even when responding to a question that asked about troops spending Christmas in Iraq.
Workation and Darkmonth.
I'm not really getting my work done, but I'm not really on vacation. I'm on workation.
I don't really like this feeling. One ought to go one way or the other. Say you're on vacation and don't touch your work, or plow through that work and stop taking breaks that stretch out but don't feel that good because your inner voice keeps nagging about how this is just supposed to be a break but it's eating up the whole day. If you're going to think "get back to work" at least get some work done.
Agh! I think it has something to do with the light, that is, the lack of light. We are deeply embedded in the time of year I think of as "Darkmonth." Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, the midpoint of Darkmonth, the darkest 30 days of the year. After tomorrow, there is, at least, the knowledge that each day has a little more light than the day before. Here in the north country, the darkest days are so dismally short. I've gotten used to the cold over the years, but never to the extreme dark. At 2:30 in the afternoon, you already feel the darkness setting in. These days have so little sense of their own existence, it's hard to take them seriously.
I don't really like this feeling. One ought to go one way or the other. Say you're on vacation and don't touch your work, or plow through that work and stop taking breaks that stretch out but don't feel that good because your inner voice keeps nagging about how this is just supposed to be a break but it's eating up the whole day. If you're going to think "get back to work" at least get some work done.
Agh! I think it has something to do with the light, that is, the lack of light. We are deeply embedded in the time of year I think of as "Darkmonth." Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, the midpoint of Darkmonth, the darkest 30 days of the year. After tomorrow, there is, at least, the knowledge that each day has a little more light than the day before. Here in the north country, the darkest days are so dismally short. I've gotten used to the cold over the years, but never to the extreme dark. At 2:30 in the afternoon, you already feel the darkness setting in. These days have so little sense of their own existence, it's hard to take them seriously.
Bloggers promoting products.
Mickey Kaus is praising an obscure music CD that was sent to him. He's not specifically saying more free things should be sent to him, but, really, why shouldn't review copies of CDs, DVDs, and books be sent to bloggers who might write about them?
And doesn't it seem inevitable that there will be a blogger payola scandal at some point? We bloggers build up our credibility with readers over the months and years of writing. You assume if a blogger you trust says that a TV show or a movie or a book is good it's because he thinks so for purely independent and un-self-interested reasons unless he says otherwise. I don't think free review copies of things undermine this independence. MSM reviewers get free copies of the CDs, DVDs, and books they write about. A blogger has such a strong interest in maintaining credibility that he's likely to make a point of saying he's received a free copy.
But don't you think the day will come when we will hear that a trusted, seemingly independent blogger is being paid to express an opinion about a product or even a politician or important policy? Will we be horrified? Will we just stop caring what the blogger has to say? Or will we accept it, the way we accepted it when we found out about paid product placements in movies? I made my local car dealer look quite posh in this post, just because I had nothing better to do than observe my immediate surroundings (and also because I wanted to get in on the big new tire-blogging craze). But what if it were the case -- it's not! -- and you found out, that Zimbrick gives me free oil changes in exchange for disguised ads? Small potatoes, you might think. Who cares? Imagine something bigger then: a high-traffic blogger paid big bucks to back the privatization of Social Security.
UPDATE: An emailer writes that there should be a spiffy little word for blogger payola, like "blogola." Maybe we could also do with a word for blog product placement, like maybe "product blogment."
ANOTHER UPDATE: Let me just flag the recent incident of the two blogs that received $27,000 and $8,000, respectively, from the Thune campaign. This is not, I think, an example of an existing, high-traffic, trusted blog selling out, but it is a related phenomenon. I hope blog readers are savvy enough to know that anyone can start a blog, and that, presumably, many blogs have undisclosed interests behind them.
MUCH LATER UPDATE: For my discussion of this issue postdating the revelation that Kos took money from the Dean campaign, go here.
And doesn't it seem inevitable that there will be a blogger payola scandal at some point? We bloggers build up our credibility with readers over the months and years of writing. You assume if a blogger you trust says that a TV show or a movie or a book is good it's because he thinks so for purely independent and un-self-interested reasons unless he says otherwise. I don't think free review copies of things undermine this independence. MSM reviewers get free copies of the CDs, DVDs, and books they write about. A blogger has such a strong interest in maintaining credibility that he's likely to make a point of saying he's received a free copy.
But don't you think the day will come when we will hear that a trusted, seemingly independent blogger is being paid to express an opinion about a product or even a politician or important policy? Will we be horrified? Will we just stop caring what the blogger has to say? Or will we accept it, the way we accepted it when we found out about paid product placements in movies? I made my local car dealer look quite posh in this post, just because I had nothing better to do than observe my immediate surroundings (and also because I wanted to get in on the big new tire-blogging craze). But what if it were the case -- it's not! -- and you found out, that Zimbrick gives me free oil changes in exchange for disguised ads? Small potatoes, you might think. Who cares? Imagine something bigger then: a high-traffic blogger paid big bucks to back the privatization of Social Security.
UPDATE: An emailer writes that there should be a spiffy little word for blogger payola, like "blogola." Maybe we could also do with a word for blog product placement, like maybe "product blogment."
ANOTHER UPDATE: Let me just flag the recent incident of the two blogs that received $27,000 and $8,000, respectively, from the Thune campaign. This is not, I think, an example of an existing, high-traffic, trusted blog selling out, but it is a related phenomenon. I hope blog readers are savvy enough to know that anyone can start a blog, and that, presumably, many blogs have undisclosed interests behind them.
MUCH LATER UPDATE: For my discussion of this issue postdating the revelation that Kos took money from the Dean campaign, go here.
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