Chrisonomicon
Journal & Weblog Write to Save Your Life April 18, 2003

Wordlog

steatopygia
Anthropology: The condition of having large deposits of fat on the buttocks, as in Hottentot and Bushmen women. The stylized steatopygia of an Upper Paleolithic statuette found in southern Europe indicates the possbility that this present-day Capoid specialty may have been commoner in Caucasoids at this early period. Derived from Greek stear, steatos, fat, and pyge, buttocks. (In other words, "baby got back").
(Language of the Specialists)

imprecate
to invoke evil or utter curses on
(Merriam-Webster Online)

calumniate
to utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations about
(Merriam-Webster Online)

 
Booklog

Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakam
The woman pushed on the baby's stomach and sucked its penis into her mouth; it was thinner than the American menthols she smoked and a bit slimy, like raw fish.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
In 1517, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, feeling great pity for the Indians who grew worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines, proposed to Emperor Charles V that Negroes be brought to the isles of the Caribbean, so that they might grow worn and lean in the drudging infernos of the Antillean gold mines.

Finished

 
Howard Dean for President, 2004

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"Un-American"
posted Monday, March 3, 2003:

Regarding today's date, I received the usual bout of spam and forwards from friends and family who are novices to the world of email (and still surprised Jonno hasn't had something clever to say, 3/03/03 being palindromic and all), but was rubbed the wrong way by a particular forward urging consumers to boycott Saudi-originating oil, because:
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia . . . Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
Just to forewarn anyone who's received this and, like me, felt compelled to reply-all with thoughts on how disgustingly bigoted and generalizing this sentiment is and how similar to al-Qa'ida's "Kill All Americans" logic it sounds: think twice. Apparently, I'd struck a collective nerve, morphing into a magnet for iron-leaden comments, not only on how un-patriotic my opinion was, but how I was now some kind of pinko-commie-nazi terrorist and, for that matter, was I even American?

I was shocked, not only at the disagreement, but at how violently it was expressed, unnerved by the skewed perception that these respondents have of American history and, dare I say, American values. It suddenly occurred to me, however, that I've lived in somewhat of a bubble of like-minded individuals -- coworkers, friends, and webloggers -- who all share my anti-war sentiments and that perhaps I had set myself up for such a response by blinding anticipating a wash of agreement.

The glimpse of these people's perspectives frightens me. However I must decisively agree to accommodate their opinions for that is the crux of such freedom afforded thought and speech. And, yet, when an opinion threatens my sense of identity as an American citizen -- even my sense of well-being -- where is a line drawn? I refuse to give in on this matter. «

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