h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>Oh give me a break, you *know* he has! You find the quotes, I am sure you can... I won't fall into that trap again...

No, Vicky. I have to call you on that. I can't find the quotes. Either they ain't there or you know of some that I've missed.

In what way is this a trap?

>>there's a scary amount of snobbery in that article,

Trust us, Vicky, the Mail is filth and worth being snobby about. You'd agree if you saw its constant tide of islamophobic and anti-immigrant headlines. Nice people don't read it.

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I know, you say it here, remember?
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IMO, pious believers don't use blasphemy by definition. I had assumed that you of course do, I'd sort of assumed you'd get a buzz out of it...

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Archaic? I suppose it might be, it's my parents' generation.

Interestingly, no one in my family swears, atheist or believer. It's not our family culture, my mother used to say that bad language showed a paucity of intelligence, imagination and education.

Vicky

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No 'if'about it. He was and is, wrong about Iraq. He's wrong (lying or mistaken about other things. I don't know where the 5 or 6 figure came from, it was *65*!

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(Note, though, that I've blogged against Hitchens' Iraq errors a few times. To complicate things...I do think that he, David Aaronavitch, Nik Cohn and others have made sincere left-wing cases for the war. It just happens that I completely disagree with them. That doesn't make them right-wing - it just makes them wrong. But then many on the left make idiotic cases *against* the war which I disagree with equally, even if I share their opposition)
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To use 3Dots expression, I see a whacking huge elephant in the room right there! I am not going to name it... I am sure you're capable of recognising it. Clue. What nationality/ethnicity (religion) uis shared by Hitchens' mother and second wife, and these gents?

>>I know, you say it here, remember?

Do I? Normally here it's 'Jaysus!', surely? Which doesn't even count as blasphemy.
'It's Jesus for church and Jaysus for swearing.'

But, no, I don't get a significant buzz out of blaspheming. It's just part of the speech rhythm of an average potty-mouth.


And I eschew the unwarranted assertion that it demonstrates a paucity of vocabulary.

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Where did you get that idea? It's simply Irish for swearing, ain't it?

>my mother used to say that bad language showed a paucity of intelligence, imagination and education.<

Which just goes to show what a bloody idiot she was.

Stephen Fry swears

My Nan used to swear in ways that could make grown men blush or blanch, but normally just giggle at a Grandmother utteriung the kind of vehement laguage you'd expect from a drunk navi who'd just lost his weeks beer money on a game of cards.

My nan did have a poor education both in terms of quality and attendance. Still she managed to to raise four of her own children her four younger siblings and me all on working class wages. We grew up mostly happy and healthy so I would strongly refute any iplied lack of intelligence.

Only people who never heard her swear would be stupid enough to assume a lack of imagination!

one love

Vicky...

Would you care to retract the disgusting anti-Semitism in your last post?

Apart from anything else, Hitchens is a firm anti-Zionist who has vocally supported the Palestinian cause on many, many occasions. Aaronovitch similarly. Cohn - I don't know about.

Shame on you, Vicky, shame on you for even noticing their surnames, let alone assuming they are relevant. I momentarily considered Yikesing your post, but I prefer it to stand to so that others can see what filth you're capable of spouting.

I meant Post 8264, last line.

It disgusts me.

Vicky, you've seen quotes here that his own brother, ten months ago called him *Left*. You've seen how his break with some Liberals was over their lack of support for the war in Iraq. His support of that war has even been interpreted as part of his fight against religion, in this case Islam. You've heard him describe himself as a Trotskyite and as a Luxemburgist Internationalist. He HAS said that he misses some of his old liberal ideas *like a missing limb*.

So ONE phrase makes him a Right Wing Nut Job? Black or White? One extreme or the other? Wouldn't you agree that there are more facts and quotes screaming that he is left of centre?

'course, Leon Trotsky and Rosa Luxemburg were Jewish...

So were the pickles my nephew sent me from Montreal.

Still no retraction, then?

Nor even a missing Dawkins quote.

La-di-dah.

I think Della is talking about Nick Cohen the Observer columnist.

Ah..memories of the famous cheesecake at Ben's Deli, Montreal.

Of course, the place is bound to be full of pro-war right-wingers...

>>I think Della is talking about Nick Cohen the Observer columnist.

I doubt she's heard of him, Blicky. Her knee just jerked at a couple of Jewish surnames and she decided there must be a connection with Hitchens' ancestry.

Incidentally...Hitchens claim that his grandmother said she was Jewish was a cause of friction between him and Peter for quite a while. It's interesting that Peter now seems to accept it. Myself...for what it's worth, I think it's rather lame of C Hitchens to advertise it. It's too convenient a get-out-of-jail card for when he's accused of anti-semitism for supporting the Palestinians. He should let his views speak for themselves.

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Thanks a lot, lady! That's not at all funny, and she was correct.

But you're right. It's Nick Cohen. I always confuse him with Nik Cohn who is (I think) a music writer.

Still no retraction of Vicky's disgusting anti-semitism.