The Savage God

Mr. Alvarez relates how our middle-age and aging can render us vulnerable to suicidal despair.

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“The need to face the fact that your own death is coming and the seeds of it are already at work produces, according to Professor Elliott Jaques, a long bitter period of depression during which all your values slowly and painfully change. The optimism and idealism of youth fall away before a more somber, less hopeful sense of the world as it is, unredeemed, uneasy, unforgiving. And in the warren of this depression all your past work seems trivial or worthless, and your internal resources hopelessly inadequate for the dour task of finding a way through in some new, untested direction. It is a despair not many steps from suicide.”

-- A. Alvarez, “The Savage God”

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Google Reader

Google Reader was not suppose to go out until July 1st, but although it may only be a coincidence, it isn't working now. At least not fully. And I am still not sure of what my new system will be. It will be such a hassle to go from source to source, rather than having all my wanted material collated so handily.

The Cleveland Sex Slaves Case

Charles Ramsey, the man who helped rescue three Cleveland women presumed dead after going missing a decade ago, has become an instant Internet meme. It’s hardly surprising—the interviews he gave yesterday provide plenty of fodder for a viral video, including memorable soundbites (“I was eatin’ my McDonald’s”) and lots of enthusiastic gestures. But as Miles Klee and Connor Simpson have noted, Ramsey’s heroism is quickly being overshadowed by the public’s desire to laugh at and autotune his story, and that’s a shame. Ramsey has become the latest in a fairly recent trend of “hilarious” black neighbors, unwitting Internet celebrities whose appeal seems rooted in a “colorful” style that is always immediately recognizable as poor or working-class.

-- News/LJ

This is not the main story, but a sideline story to the big event.

Military and Sexual Assault

The military is still having trouble with its own sex assaults.

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“On May 5 at 12:35 a.m., a drunken male subject approached a female victim in a parking lot and grabbed her breasts and buttocks,” the report read. “The victim fought the suspect off as he attempted to touch her again and alerted police. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, Va., was arrested and charged with sexual battery.”

Krusinksi’s mug shot, showing scarlet scratches on his face, is a portrait in misery.

He knew his arrest on charges of groping a stranger would send the capital reeling and his career at the nearby Pentagon spiraling. The Air Force lieutenant colonel charged with sexual battery was the officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs for the Air Force. (He had just finished his sexual assault victim training.)

-- Maureen Down at NYT

YouTube

YouTube apparently won't allow anything remotely provocative that touches upon religious themes. They banned a David Bowie video, for crying outloud! Is he really a dangerous artist? YouTube is a Google operation. Shocking, isn't it? I remember when Google was great.

[ONTD]

Daily Fun

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