Have Some Links

Ross Douthat, a/k/a "Ross Douchehat" 'round about the parts I frequent, wrote a book about religion in America.  I knew it would be terrible because, y'know, Ross Douthat.  He's a mendacious, obviously partisan intellectual lightweight to which the Grey Lady has tied itself in an ever-accelerating attempt to drag itself down towards obscurity.  I'd weep for what the NYT has become but, well, you make your bed...

Either way, Charles P. Pierce read it so that you (and I) don't have to:

Too much of the book is simply a culture-war text gussied up in a chasuble. Douthat is extremely bothered by people who claim to seek enlightenment from a "God Within," and outside the framework of preferred ecclesiastical constructs. (In this, he risibly cites Deepak Chopra and Elizabeth Gilbert — and Oprah Winfrey! — as somehow being American religious figures.) Can you find spiritual enlightenment outside of a formalized religious structure and, having found it, can you still be a Catholic, or a Jew, or a Presbyterian? An interesting question that Douthat simply ignores.

Jezebel takes a shit all over EHarmony.  Statistics compiled by OKCupid indicate there's an 83% chance somebody reading this is totally in to that sort of thing:

The "scientific" algorithm behind eharmony, for example, has never been tested against other algorithms to measure whether or not it makes any difference in the quality of relationships experienced by users. Basically, you might be better off just going to a bar and introducing yourself to a bunch of dudes who don't appear to have girlfriends. Or just playing World of Warcraft for awhile. Or just go onto OKCupid and find someone with a weird tattoo, for free.

I find this story fascinating, especially in light of the fact that I spent the better part of the day on Friday in a home that had been vacant for nearly a year. I also had to meet the new neighbors in a rather awkward way. The driveway in the empty house was the communal extra parking space, you see.

Interestingly enough, no one seemed to even think to point a gun at me. I also never had to show anyone my closing documents. I wonder why that is.  I've already learned some interesting things about being the new guy in a neighborhood and the difference between getting an apartment and buying a house.  Let's just say that I feel really, really bad for the Kalonjis and leave it at that for now.

And, finally, the Mittbot might have the nomination basically wrapped up, but he has a long hill to climb with the Republican base.

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Also, as a reminder, I'm doing a Walkathon on May 6th for the daggies and the kittehs.  I've been a bit busy lately, so I haven't exactly been working my ass off at fundraising.  Here's a link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Geds/adopt-19th-annual-makinstridesforstrays-walkathon

I can apply for matching funds up to $200 through my company.  That means that anything you give will (potentially) be doubled!  Unless, of course, you give something that goes to dollar 201 or beyond, but as of right now that's not looking like it will be too big a problem.

Comments

[Janet]

I actually find it more alarming that any University would allow an actively campaigning Presidential candidate speak at commencement ceremonies. Any other venue sure, but not at graduation. It seems more than a tad political to me. Perhaps someone wants to make it clear that real, true Christians should find Democrats less desirable than Mormons as presidential candidates? So much for education as the savior of democracy.

[formerconservative]

I used eharmony for a while. Its a pretty good site if you are a conservative Christian.

If you aren't a conservative Christian, I wouldn't recommend it.

[Geds]

Janet: Yeah, but it's getting pretty popular these days. Ed Brayton wrote about Pat Boone(!) doing the commencement at a small liberal arts college, which is pissing a lot of people off, since Boone has definitely been on the Ted Nugent and Chuck Norris wingnut relevancy rejuvenation machine lately. That school answered with some bafflegab about how Boone was a successful singer and businessman and they taught their students to think for themselves, so this was simply a final exercise.

Missed the point, the whole thing did. Commencement should be a celebration of accomplishment. I'm not honestly sure why the school needs to bring in anybody save, say, the school President to make an address. It's not about, "Hey, matriculating adult-type people, we got Kim Kardashian to speak about the wonders of the real world!"

FC: Yeah, I think it's also great if you're a conventionally attractive stock model for their commercials. Of course, I've learned that home improvement is a lot more fun if you're a conventionally attractive stock model putting a single swipe of high-contrast paint on a white wall in a Home Depot commercial.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, "I want to be a conventionally attractive stock model when I grow up."