Monday, April 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Iggy and the Stooges Get Into Hall of Fame
In particular, I love the Times's reference to Iggy as "Mr. Pop."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Snakepit of American Banking
Amanda Marcotte makes a good case on Pandagon that banks are even worse than you thought. No matter how bad you think they are—they're worse. Having worked for a bank in Texas, she gives some detailed explication of the tricks they use to screw over the working poor. I'm very familiar with some of these—I can't tell you how many times I've had to pay multiple charges of $35 to Bank of America because I overdrew my account by one or two dollars.
The worst parts of my job were 75% due to people who kept average account balances below $500. Those were the people who overdrew their checking accounts all the time, and then came in sobbing and begging for relief from what was often hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. To make it worse, the bank’s official policy (this is standard) was to clear debits from highest to lowest amount. In other words, if processing had a rent check of $400 and then fifteen debit card transactions of $5-$10, they took the $400 first, and then the rest. So if the $400 overdrew the account, then every single transaction after was an overdraft fee.From pandagon.net via clp.ly
Best Onion Ever: Jesus Converts to Islam
This was years ago, but it stands to this day as perhaps my all-time favorite Onion article.
This particular passage is the ultimate stroke of genius, especially if you've ever had encounters with the Jews for Jesus:
JERUSALEM—In a surprise announcement with far-reaching theological implications, Jesus Christ The Nazarene, founder of Christianity and spiritual leader of nearly two billion people, revealed Monday that He has converted to "the one true religion" of Islam.
Christ (left) consults with his new spiritual advisor, the Righteous Hassan Abdul al-Aziz.
The controversial announcement has sent shockwaves through religious circles around the globe.
"Allah is the name of the One and Only God," Christ said. "Allah has 99 beautiful names: He is known as The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord Of The Universe, The First, The Last and many more. He has revealed Himself unto Me through the holy words of the blessed Qur'an, and I have put My trust and faith in Him."From www.theonion.com via clp.ly
In perhaps the oddest development, the Jews For Jesus organization announced Monday that it has split into three separate groups: Jews Still For Jesus, Jews For Allah, and Jews For Just Being Jews Again.From www.theonion.com via clp.ly
The Future of Text
WASHINGTON—Unable to rest their eyes on a colorful photograph or boldface heading that could be easily skimmed and forgotten about, Americans collectively recoiled Monday when confronted with a solid block of uninterrupted text.
Dumbfounded citizens from Maine to California gazed helplessly at the frightening chunk of print, unsure of what to do next. Without an illustration, chart, or embedded YouTube video to ease them in, millions were frozen in place, terrified by the sight of one long, unbroken string of English words.
"Why won't it just tell me what it's about?" said Boston resident Charlyne Thomson, who was bombarded with the overwhelming mass of black text late Monday afternoon. "There are no bullet points, no highlighted parts. I've looked everywhere—there's nothing here but words."From www.theonion.com via clp.ly
Where Are the Male Sex Writers?
Greta Christina hits a home run.
Why is the "sex writer" field so dominated by women?
I've been thinking about this question for many years. The publisher of this very blog brought it up in a conversation we were having, and it's been on my mind off and on ever since. It came up again at a recent salon of sex writers and activists; it came up yet again, although more obliquely, in a conversation I was having with a porn writing friend of mineFrom gretachristina.typepad.com via clp.ly
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