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A Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community
About Me :
I'm a grownup nerd living in the Boston burbs. I write computer programs for a living and plays for fun.
I'm married to a wonderful woman, and we share a nice little house with our daughter and our cats.
I'm a humanist, a technologist, an artist, and an idealist. I believe in reason, freedom, love, equality,
and democracy. (Did I mention that I'm
an idealist? I did, OK.)
I'm also a pragmatist and an empiricist. I reject ideology and dogma, especially when they conflict with
practical facts (i.e., pretty much always). I particularly hate willful ignorance, which tends to go hand-in-hand
with ideology and dogma.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Like the alignment of the planets, this blog gets updated as I have the time, inspiration, and inclination to do so.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Ann Coulter "Action" Figure
Wow, check it out! It's the new Ann Coulter "Action" Figure! It's not Ann Coulter, but an amazing simulation!
You know, it's the little details that make a thing like this. Just like Ann, this toy is an inert, empty-headed piece of plastic that speaks when you press her buttons. And just like her, it says exactly what an anonymous corporation has programmed her to say!
This is a real item for sale by the same people who brought you the George W. Bush "Action" figure. You know, the one with the stuffed flight suit? Ann Coulter is an odd choice for a sequel: I'd have expected a Dick Cheney doll that says "Big Time!" when you press his button, and comes with his very own Secure Undisclosed Location. Or maybe a Centennial Edition Strom Thurmond, accessorized with a KKK hood in one hand, and an illegitimate black child in the other.
But instead of these stalwarts of the One Party State, someone decided that this month, it's Ann. Therefore, some poor Chinese people, working for pennies a day, literally slave over injection molding machines pumping out graven images of the Ice Queen of the Right, so that dittoheads all over America can exult in their own cleverness (all for the low, low price of $29.95, plus tax, shipping and handling, and your soul).
Alas, the Ann Coulter "Action" Figure isn't perfect. Frankly, to my eye, the doll is much better looking than Ann. They took all the mean smugness out of her (or is it smug meanness?). The plastic hair is also much better looking than hers. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the doll smiling?
On the other hand, it's likely that the "Action" Figure contains fewer toxic chemicals and carcinogens than Ann herself. So given the choice as to which one I'd rather have in the landfill, I'm going with the doll.
[Link missing on purpose]
Wow, check it out! It's the new Ann Coulter "Action" Figure! It's not Ann Coulter, but an amazing simulation!
You know, it's the little details that make a thing like this. Just like Ann, this toy is an inert, empty-headed piece of plastic that speaks when you press her buttons. And just like her, it says exactly what an anonymous corporation has programmed her to say!
This is a real item for sale by the same people who brought you the George W. Bush "Action" figure. You know, the one with the stuffed flight suit? Ann Coulter is an odd choice for a sequel: I'd have expected a Dick Cheney doll that says "Big Time!" when you press his button, and comes with his very own Secure Undisclosed Location. Or maybe a Centennial Edition Strom Thurmond, accessorized with a KKK hood in one hand, and an illegitimate black child in the other.
But instead of these stalwarts of the One Party State, someone decided that this month, it's Ann. Therefore, some poor Chinese people, working for pennies a day, literally slave over injection molding machines pumping out graven images of the Ice Queen of the Right, so that dittoheads all over America can exult in their own cleverness (all for the low, low price of $29.95, plus tax, shipping and handling, and your soul).
Alas, the Ann Coulter "Action" Figure isn't perfect. Frankly, to my eye, the doll is much better looking than Ann. They took all the mean smugness out of her (or is it smug meanness?). The plastic hair is also much better looking than hers. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the doll smiling?
On the other hand, it's likely that the "Action" Figure contains fewer toxic chemicals and carcinogens than Ann herself. So given the choice as to which one I'd rather have in the landfill, I'm going with the doll.
[Link missing on purpose]