E-BOOK AVAILABLE!

Landfill, my book of essays, is now also available as e-book

If you ordered me at gunpoint to give you a one-sentence summary of this book, I’d probably stutter: “It’s about what I thought, observed, and experienced in 2011...please don’t shoot me!” Need a more thorough introduction? Then kindly turn to the page headed “Introduction.” For now, permit me to entice you with some tags: Harry Potter, the May 21 end times prediction, New Age shenanigans, feminism, Osama bin Laden, the Norway attacks, and this year's most anticipated movies (Melancholia; The Tree of Life; Scre4m; Somewhere). Booyah! — Nancy Strickland

Pics: Photographer Amanda De Vito posing with the book.

MORE RELIGIOUS HATE MAIL

Yesterday I was watching a YouTube video featuring the late Christopher Hitchens. I scrolled down to the comment section and found a recent one from someone whose username sounded oddly familiar. After massaging my temples for a few seconds, I realized that this was the same individual who'd left some aggressive comments on a video that debunked Scottish medium Derek Ogilvie.

His comment on the Christopher Hitchens video: “This guy should find god!”

Feeling compelled to reply to this, I wrote: “Mr. Hitchens died in December 2011. Maybe you should refrain from commenting on someone you know nothing about. Aside from that, telling others they need to find God is a bit rich coming from someone who is belligerent and disrespectful in his own (Dutch) comments ("eerloze rotkop", etc). You want others to change? Then set an example. (Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.)”

His reaction: “I may express myself the way I like…You’ve got nothing to do with that. Fuck you!”

My. Jesus would have been in envy of such biting wit and intellectual superiority.

I never avoid debates, but if it becomes apparent that my opponent is ignorant (or not quite right in the head) and so chooses to counter my arguments with insults and non-sequiturs, I walk away from it.

But, color me amazed, this individual wasn’t quite done with me yet and sent me the following private message:

“I was a non believer to till i was 29. Now i am finding my way into religion.... It helps me to stay more focused and calm, and yes I got a litlle bit crazy during the years. But I am getting better now it was a hard long way for me believe that. I hope for you your life will be easier!”

I couldn’t let this one slide. My reply: “First you say ‘fuck you!’ to me in a comment and then you have the nerve to send me a personal message claiming your belief in God CALMS you...Wow. Good luck with your obvious emotional instability (which is something you have in common with other people who suddenly started believing in God for wrong, insincere reasons). Tip: THINK before you post comments on videos.”

His reply: “Fuck you! You suck!”

The mind boggles.

I thought long and hard about it and finally decided to disclose the individual’s username: normanwieanders. My reasoning: other YouTube users should know that this person can’t be reasoned with. It just might save them precious time and energy.

KIM-JONG IL AND THE DUBIOUS TEARS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

Bad acting? Crocodile tears? No, the salty droplets that trickled down millions of cheeks are as sincere as a Christian’s fear to spend eternity in hell if they were to ignore their God’s list of do and don’ts. In the isolated country of North Korea, where censorship runs rampant and the government’s propaganda machine is one’s main source of information, people are inclined to believe that rainbows and a new star indeed appeared in the sky when Kim Jong-Il was born.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is largely secular, but Kim was worshipped as a man with godlike qualities. He was the supreme leader, the general who single-handedly made North-Korea such a nirvana. In reality, the population lived in poverty while Kim was living it up and doing as he pleased.
But the people of North Korea aren´t ignorant — how could they be when the less-than-wonderful reality is part of their everyday lives? They know the score. They also know that complaining could lead to a life sentence, or worse.
The national impact of the larger-than-life Kim's death is something we privileged westerners will never be able to fathom. The great leader you were spoon-fed to obey and love dies and the news cameras are up close to record your sadness, so a subtle approach won't do. No, you turn on the waterworks. You cry harder than the comrades flanking you. You give the mothers of the Plaza de Maya a run for their money. You sob, bawl, cry a river, howl, scream. You thrust your fists against the wall and throw in an agitated “why?!” for good measure.
And if the sadness of some people appears less than genuine, well, that´s because no matter how adept they've grown at fooling themselves, they can never completely silence their inner bullshit-o-meters.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS DIES, CHRISTIAN VULTURES SWOOP DOWN

Mr. Fischer:

How classy of you to say such things so soon after Christopher Hitchens’s untimely death. I'm willing to wager the €8.23 in my savings account that this episode´s script was written months ago. I'm right, am I not? You are such a ghoul that you wanted to have a response ready the second Mr. Hitchens passed away.
Taking into account that he didn´t just defy your imaginary friend but also your imaginary nemesis, the idea of Mr. Hitchens in hell simply doesn’t make a lick of sense. You often say “Let me explain” in your videos. Not because your statements are intellectually compelling and need elucidating, but because they are so illogical that bending over backwards is required to make them appear infallible.
I completely fail to see how sending Mr. Hitchens to hell would be an act of love. No matter from what angle I approach this nonsensical concept, the conclusion is always: it would be an act of gleeful sadism.
Inspired by your reasoning, I wrote the following fictional dialogue between a mother and her child.
Child: “What’s for dinner tonight, mommy?”
Mother: “Sweetheart, you always have something bad to say about my cooking. You don’t like my salads and you flat-out refuse to sample my casseroles. Today it dawned on me how cruel it would be of me to keep serving you my culinary creations. This is why I have decided to force feed you dog turds from this point on. It’s the most logical and loving thing a mother can do.”

Definitely not yours,
Nancy B. Strickland

CHILDREN AS POLITICAL WEAPONS

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The title of this video is Activist Elijah. One person who reblogged this video called Elijah "a brave little man." Sigh. Young master Elijah is as much a brave activist as Basmallah (http://youtu.be/ZL0C2QvqIlo) is a determined antisemite. Both shy kids were obviously coerced into citing rehearsed lines.
Manipulation is suddenly okay when our side is doing it, eh? GTFO, hypocrite twits.