We must hit pause button now and then

As the photographers, journalists and crowds of fans assembled outside the Broome Street apartment of Heath Ledger, serious questions were being asked about the impact of fame and today's cult of celebrity and in particular why it is that so many young actors and actresses seem to end up in such serious trouble with drugs and alcohol. Michael Carr-Gregg writes.
Aust 24 Jan 2008

Also: Australian Baptists respond to latest Westboro Baptist Church picket outrage.

Sadly, Heath Ledger's wry grin now endures only on celluloid. The global outpouring of grief and words in response to his untimely death continues to amaze me. Most of it is justified: he was a rising stellar movie actor, he possessed such potential, and he died so young. But comments from one miserable corner of American hate-land, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, have bared the ugly underbelly of religious fundamentalism and sullied the reputation of all Baptists. For the record: Westboro is an independent church not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations, and its pastor, Fred Phelps, is a disbarred lawyer whose estranged son, Mark Phelps, says Phelps "simply wants to hate and to have a forum for his hate. . . . If it weren't the homosexuals, it would be something else".

For more information see the Wikipedia articles here and here. I'm in favour of free speech, but the less publicity these people receive the better. Australian bloggers will, however, want to know that The Chaser's War on Everything flew co-host Charles Firth to Kansas and recorded this illuminating (and offensive) interview with Westboro Baptist Church members in early 2006. Where would we be without The Chaser?