if i were the operations coordinator for al qaeda or the greek anarchists or a fringe right-wing militia, or indeed for the pta of the local elementary school, i'd work on devoting the next few years - or as long as it takes - to erasing the oprah winfrey network. suicide vests, truck bombs, airbuses loaded with high explosives, dirty bombs, anthrax, sarin, beams of anti-matter, etc: i'd try them all, then start in again. then i'd devote myself to removing every trace of oprah from the cultural record: mention that name and you will be tortured just short of death, then sent crawling back out into the world, so that your horrendous disfigurement can serve as a warning. one good thing about this approach: you might get bono too.

cultural hippopotami, they bellow bigger than you and i, or even you and me; but what they bellow is meaning-free.