Country Music and the Folk

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Stanley Fish has a fun little piece in the Times on country music. In the process, we get a little glimpse of Red State culture. I suppose this is also where Fred Thompson is getting a lot of his electoral love these days, so long as the actor can act country.

( Fish )

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Country Music and the Folk

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Stanley Fish has a fun little piece in the Times on country music. In the process, we get a little glimpse of Red State culture. I suppose this is also where Fred Thompson is getting a lot of his electoral love these days, so long as the actor can act country.

( Fish )

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New Blonde Joke

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I just came across this joke that really picked up my spirits. In case it has not completely made the rounds yet, I will help it do so.

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A blind man wanders into an all girls biker bar by mistake.

He finds his way to a bar stool and orders some coffee.

After sitting there for awhile, he yells to the waiter, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"

The bar immediately falls absolutely silent. In a very deep husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair -- given that you are blind -- that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.

2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.

3. I'm a 6 foot tall, 175 lb. Blonde woman with a black belt in karate.

4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weightlifter.

5. The lady to your right is blonde and professional wrestler.

Now, think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "No...not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

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New Blonde Joke

♠
I just came across this joke that really picked up my spirits. In case it has not completely made the rounds yet, I will help it do so.

___ ___ ___

A blind man wanders into an all girls biker bar by mistake.

He finds his way to a bar stool and orders some coffee.

After sitting there for awhile, he yells to the waiter, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"

The bar immediately falls absolutely silent. In a very deep husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is only fair -- given that you are blind -- that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.

2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.

3. I'm a 6 foot tall, 175 lb. Blonde woman with a black belt in karate.

4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weightlifter.

5. The lady to your right is blonde and professional wrestler.

Now, think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "No...not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

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That Nazi Cool

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Aside from the mass murders and the Holocaust and ,like, starting World War II, you have to admit the Nazis were pretty cool with a sense of style.

Apparently, it is not unusual in Europe for youths to wear some Nazi chic and even give the stiffy salute, but supposedly without truly celebrating the actual historic Nazis, or indeed without even really knowing about that history. This is reported to be bigger in soccer circles. Just a little cool youthful rebellion. Like leather jackets and long hair, I guess.

Of course, there are also real neo-Nazis lurking about. You have to be mindful and look deeper to distinguish between the cool and the murderously hateful.


(Source: Nicholas Wood for The New York Times)

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That Nazi Cool

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Aside from the mass murders and the Holocaust and ,like, starting World War II, you have to admit the Nazis were pretty cool with a sense of style.

Apparently, it is not unusual in Europe for youths to wear some Nazi chic and even give the stiffy salute, but supposedly without truly celebrating the actual historic Nazis, or indeed without even really knowing about that history. This is reported to be bigger in soccer circles. Just a little cool youthful rebellion. Like leather jackets and long hair, I guess.

Of course, there are also real neo-Nazis lurking about. You have to be mindful and look deeper to distinguish between the cool and the murderously hateful.


(Source: Nicholas Wood for The New York Times)

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Not Again...

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A cool breeze blowing in now? At four in the afternoon! In July, like it's an April spring day. That's beautiful, but the same cannot be said for those blackish-grey clouds streaming overhead. It is a little frightening to think that the storm-system is going to kick in again. We can afford to take in a shower now and again, but not another roaring deluge - that just might sink us. God, no...

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Not Again...

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A cool breeze blowing in now? At four in the afternoon! In July, like it's an April spring day. That's beautiful, but the same cannot be said for those blackish-grey clouds streaming overhead. It is a little frightening to think that the storm-system is going to kick in again. We can afford to take in a shower now and again, but not another roaring deluge - that just might sink us. God, no...

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Allah's Way: Killing Slags and Sluts

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Only at the tail end of the coverage was it admitted that a car bomb might have been parked outside a club in Piccadilly because it was "ladies night" and that this explosion might have been designed to lure people into to the street, the better to be burned and shredded by the succeeding explosion from the second car-borne cargo of gasoline and nails. Since we have known since 2004 that a near-identical attack on a club called the Ministry of Sound was proposed in just these terms, on the grounds that dead "slags" or "sluts" would be regretted by nobody, a certain amount of trouble might have been saved by assuming the obvious. The murderers did not just want body parts in general but female body parts in particular.

-- Christopher Hitchens for Slate.com

Christopher Hitchens uses the recent London plot to write on the doubtful sensibility of extending notions of Western tolerance to Islamist precepts. We've seen this from others, but this is the first I've seen from Mr. Hitchens. It's not a thorough treatment on the theme, but Hitchens cannot help but be interesting.

( Hitchens )

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Allah's Way: Killing Slags and Sluts

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Only at the tail end of the coverage was it admitted that a car bomb might have been parked outside a club in Piccadilly because it was "ladies night" and that this explosion might have been designed to lure people into to the street, the better to be burned and shredded by the succeeding explosion from the second car-borne cargo of gasoline and nails. Since we have known since 2004 that a near-identical attack on a club called the Ministry of Sound was proposed in just these terms, on the grounds that dead "slags" or "sluts" would be regretted by nobody, a certain amount of trouble might have been saved by assuming the obvious. The murderers did not just want body parts in general but female body parts in particular.

-- Christopher Hitchens for Slate.com

Christopher Hitchens uses the recent London plot to write on the doubtful sensibility of extending notions of Western tolerance to Islamist precepts. We've seen this from others, but this is the first I've seen from Mr. Hitchens. It's not a thorough treatment on the theme, but Hitchens cannot help but be interesting.

( Hitchens )

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That's Dr. Terrorist To You

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With respect to that London plot, it is noted how a couple of the terror suspects are doctors, with the suspected al-Qaida ringleader being a brilliant neurologist working in Britian's National Health Service. Andrew Sullivan makes some pointed observations:

They're not alienated youth, or poverty-stricken Arabs. They're educated, professional religious fanatics.

... What we're seeing here is what we've seen for years. Al Qaeda is composed mainly of prosperous middle-class types, consumed with resentment of the West's freedoms, and determined to kill as many in the name of Allah. Yes, there's no doubt that the occupation of Iraq has made us more vulnerable to these religious nutters. But they were there before Iraq, and they will be here for a long time. And they are not all illegal immigrants. Many are legal, professional and devoutly murderous.

We have known that we are not talking about the poorest and the most oppressed, but it is perhaps helpful to be reminded. It's ideological and extremist.


(Source: Andrew Sullivan)

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That's Dr. Terrorist To You

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With respect to that London plot, it is noted how a couple of the terror suspects are doctors, with the suspected al-Qaida ringleader being a brilliant neurologist working in Britian's National Health Service. Andrew Sullivan makes some pointed observations:

They're not alienated youth, or poverty-stricken Arabs. They're educated, professional religious fanatics.

... What we're seeing here is what we've seen for years. Al Qaeda is composed mainly of prosperous middle-class types, consumed with resentment of the West's freedoms, and determined to kill as many in the name of Allah. Yes, there's no doubt that the occupation of Iraq has made us more vulnerable to these religious nutters. But they were there before Iraq, and they will be here for a long time. And they are not all illegal immigrants. Many are legal, professional and devoutly murderous.

We have known that we are not talking about the poorest and the most oppressed, but it is perhaps helpful to be reminded. It's ideological and extremist.


(Source: Andrew Sullivan)

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