Snapped on the wall of a restaurant in the theatre district (ha!).

A man who loves men.

Just not in that way.

But who numbers hairdressers and cocksucking fags among his friends.

Don’t we all?

Jacob Adler, the great tragedian, performed in many European capitals. Of them all he declared the slums of London to be the worst he had ever seen. Worse than Russia or Paris, and worse than anything he would encounter in New York.

Dickens’s friend and colleague Henry Mayhew invented the oral history when he walked the streets of London asking its poor what work they did and how they managed to survive. He talked to children as young as four who lived off the farthings earned by scraping together small nosegays from the broken flowers dropped from the trays of older flower sellers, perhaps nine or eleven, in Covent Garden. In its uncut form his masterwork chronicles in infinite detail the lives of those considered not worth the reckoning. As Pax Britannica made a small coterie unimaginably wealthy their fellow citizens died in the street. But perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps the idea of of Empire that has infected certain societies at certain times demands the sacrifice of many so that some can believe themselves to be great. Ignoring the poor isn’t enough. They must be kicked aside. They must pay the price. The young must die in war.

Which brings me to This American Life.

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Christ on a stick, from a Wal-Mart in Canton, OH:

“Please Donate Food Items Here, so Associates in Need Can Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner,” read signs affixed to the tablecloths.

The food drive tables are tucked away in an employees-only area. They are another element in the backdrop of the public debate about salaries for cashiers, stock clerks and other low-wage positions at Walmart, as workers in Cincinnati and Dayton are scheduled to go on strike Monday.

Is the food drive proof the retailer pays so little that many employees can’t afford Thanksgiving dinner?

Uh, duh. Yes.

Meanwhile, in other Wal-Mart news: Read more »

Title: “Soul Healing Miracles: Ancient and New Sacred Wisdom, Knowledge, and Practical Techniques for Healing the Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical Bodies”

Author: Zhi Gang Sha

Rank: 22

Blurb: “For the first time, The Source Ling Guang (Soul Light) Calligraphy will be offered in a book. These Source Calligraphies carry matter, energy, and soul of The Source, which can transform the matter, energy, and soul of the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical bodies.”

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This is a picture of pug puppies and a baby. At least, I think that’s what that is.

I don’t know if any of you watch Martin Bashir on a regular basis. We do because he can be funny and trenchant in about equal measure. And plus he’s not Chris Matthews. But yesterday, as you may already know, he suggested that someone should shit in Sarah Palin’s mouth.

This came about because she referred to…

You know what? I really can’t be bothered. No doubt he’ll either have to crawl or resign. I don’t know what he was thinking. Well, actually I do and if you have the patience to watch the video you’ll see the point he’s trying to make.

Trouble is: one can’t excoriate the former half-term governor for abusing a slavery metaphor then turn around and do the same thing yourself. Not unless you have the decency to get drunk first.

Video is here.

Title: “The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ”

Author: Roger Stone

Rank: 97

Blurb: “Combining decades of insider political knowledge with cutting edge JFK assassination research, Roger Stone lays out the case that Lyndon Johnson manipulated the situation in Dallas on November 22, 1963, and murdered Kennedy as he murdered numerous other victims along the way.”

Author Blurb: “Roger Stone … served as a senior staffer in eight national Republican Presidential Campaigns including those of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Stone is also credited with … the shut-down of 2000 recount that made George W. Bush President. In 2012 Stone joined the Libertarian Party.”

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