Eric D. Snider

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Archive for September 19th, 2007

Earth: Flat or round? ‘View’ co-host unsure

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

I don’t watch “The View.” In fact, I can’t even imagine watching it. The very thought makes me shudder. The small clips I’ve seen convince me I’ve made the right choice in not allowing a band of shrieking women who constantly talk over each other enter my home for an hour every day.

But I was amused, as I’m sure you will be, by this clip, in which the recently anointed fifth co-host, Sherri Shepherd, gives the wrong answer when asked if she believes the Earth is flat: “I don’t know.”

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It’s in the context of a discussion about evolution, which Shepherd definitely doesn’t believe in. Whoopi Goldberg (another recent addition to the show, and another good reason not to watch it) is trying to say, “If you trust science when it tells you the Earth is round, why not trust science when it tells you about evolution?” Only she doesn’t say it very well, and I’m not sure it’s a logically valid argument anyway. And besides, Shepherd apparently doesn’t trust science when it tells her the Earth is round. That, or she’s just never heard science mention it before.

Whoopi also tries to say, “Can’t you believe in God and evolution? Couldn’t you believe that God created organisms that then evolved, under His guidance, into more fully developed animals and species?” But she doesn’t say that very well, either, which is too bad, because I think it’s a good point of view to take.

Anyway, I don’t intend for this to be a debate on whether religious people can believe in evolution (although I am resigned to the fact that that’s what it will become anyway). And I categorically do not mean to imply that all religious people, like Sherri Shepherd, are ignorant of even the basics of scientific knowledge. All I wanted is for us to point and laugh at Sherri Shepherd for saying something dumb.

‘Snide Remarks’ Classic: ‘Addición: Flautas’

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
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I was sad to learn on a recent trip to Salt Lake City that my beloved Cafe Pierpont — home of such Mexican entrees as the life-changing flautas — had closed. I guess the building got sold and the new owner is turning it into something else. Something evil, no doubt, since the owner himself is obviously evil. What kind of monster would deprive the world of Cafe Pierpont’s flautas?!

In honor of this tragedy, this week’s “Snide Remarks” Classic is the column I wrote about the restaurant, “Addición: Flautas,” originally published Sept. 20, 2004.

Chicken, cheese, sour cream, flour tortilla, rolled up and deep fried. Mmmm….

 
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