Save this eulogy. It will serve as a template for future neocon eulogies ...

[eppur_se_muova]

When I first read this eulogy, written for a Christian demagogue nearly sixteen centuries ago, it occurred to me that it would be perfectly appropriate for DDDDDick Cheney. And when Old Ironheart passed away a couple of days ago, it occurred to me that it could serve as well for many of the venal neocons in thrall to the worldview shared by Cheney and his ilk. I know that news organizations keep on file frequently updated short bios of important public figures, so that they can quickly go 'on air' with an obit should that person suddenly die. So, why not keep this item on hand, and re-use it as a template as Bu**sh**, Cheney, Bliar, Berlusconi, Feith, Addison, Rumsfeld, etc. each go to their eternal rewards ?

The original was written to honor the patriarch Cyrillus, who ordered a crowd of young Christians to enter the house of Hypatia, the pagan philosopher and mathematician, drag her out into the streets, hack her to pieces and burn her remains in the public square (according to one account, she was hacked to pieces while still alive). After Cyrillus' death in 444, one of the bishops of Alexandria pronounced the following funeral eulogy:

"At last this odious man is dead. His departure causes his survivors to rejoice, but is bound to distress the dead. They will not be long in becoming fed up with him and sending him back to us. Therefore, place a very heavy stone on his tomb so that we will not run the risk of seeing him again, even as a ghost."

At the very least, that first sentence sets the right tone.

[freshwest]

1. Second sentence is what concerns me. What a maniac.

[calimary]

5. Assuming "Old Ironheart" applies to cheney, unfortunately he is still in our midst.

Still walks the earth. Still sucks oxygen off the planet. Still sits there in his semi-regular chair on "Meet the Press" and "This Week" every Sunday.

When he does finally quit this mortal coil, I find myself half-expecting what Hugo Chavez said. I will go outside and sniff the air. 'Cause Chavez said when he (referring either to cheney or bush) passes, there'll be a smell of sulfur.

[eppur_se_muova]

6. The Greengrocer's Daughter -- Ms. Thatcher. nt

[rhett o rick]

2. I like it. nm

[longship]

3. They flayed her flesh off her bones with abalone shells.

Hypatia, certainly one of history's greatest women. A polymath, she was one of the last curators of the library at Alexandria.

Her story is one worth getting to know. Brian Trent wrote a novel based on her life, Remembering Hypatia. He was interviewed on Skeptics Guide to the Universe, Episode 40, back in 2006. Here's a link:
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive/podcastinfo.aspx?mid=1&pid=40

I haven't read it, but it sounds good and is still on my reading list.

[Wednesdays]

4. Awesome!

[dalton99a]

7. Kick.

[634-5789]

8. "...each go to their eternal rewards...I 'll take that bet it's not the reward the think it'll be...

[dchill]

9. Let this thread be born again.