Web Monitor
A celebration of the riches of the web.
Today in Web Monitor: politeness prevails in the faith debate, how fame corrupts and the tweeting dame. Share your favourite bits of the web by sending your links via the letter box to the right of this page.
• Christopher Hitchens has just finished a film standing up for his atheist beliefs. He's been debating in the UK, Canada and the US and what he's been surprised by is the politeness of those on the opposing side of the debate:
"I haven't yet run into an argument that has made me want to change my mind. After all, a believing religious person, however brilliant or however good in debate, is compelled to stick fairly closely to a 'script' that is known in advance, and known to me, too. However, I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe."
• that fame corrupts men more than women. She says it would be rare for an older woman to leave her family for a teenage lover and she has a theory why:
"It's about a fear of dying for men: they want to stay immortal. But you know what, honey? We're all dying every day - it's just that women are more deeply rooted in reality."
• Web Monitor gets the impression Elizabeth Taylor may like the new Michael Jackson film This Is It. , ending with:
"I truly believe this film should be nominated in every category conceivable."