The personalist attacks were bad enough; the implications that opponents of the war were somehow "pro-Saddam" or "pro-terrorist" were worse. I've tried to make all of my statements here in the spirit of civilized, if often passionate, discourse: no ad hominem attacks, no ill will...

I figure celebs have as much a right to their opinions as anyone else. Some of 'em know what they're talking about, some of 'em don't. I long considered Bono a pretentious blowhard who happened to say things I usually agreed with. But over time it's become apparent to me that he actually reads books...

1. I, for one, have never faked ignorance. However, I do (out of necessity) fake intelligence on a daily basis. Nor do I ever deign to do something so horrifying as to check myself out in a mirror. Rather, I live by the following immortal axiom: In good looks I am not a star There are others more lo...

"Your sailor"!?

Anti-semitism is a scourge that, tragically, Germany has not yet excised. In recent years there's been a revival of a right-wing anti-Semitic movement in France, too. However that same right-wing movement (Le Penne et al.) has also been virulently anti-African and anti-Arab -- indeed, anti-immigrant...

I have no idea if my above comments for Miranda were construed as being part of an attempt to throw anyone overboard. If they were, I certainly apologize. I tried to express a disagreement with her approach in some of the comments she made, but in no way did I intend for my own comments to be any ki...

Well... "innovative," definitely, and fascinating for it (in my opinion). "Pretentious" is a tough one. Judging from what he himself wrote about it, Leonard had a pretty grandiose vison of what the book was going to be. Personally, I think there's enough self-deprecating humor in...

I'm utterly and heartfelt-ly (?) glad she's back, and the people who did that to her must be apprehended and tried as war criminals and prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. The specific individuals probably can't be found, but their leaders and commanders no doubt can be. By the same token, if...

Tori -- I, for one, have never mentioned the Republican party, because I don't think the democrats are any more courageous in denouncing corporate imperialism than the republicans are. Clinton was a gung-ho avatar of globalization, just as Bush is. The Vietnam War was largely the brain child of Demo...

Our government "loves" its soldiers so much that even as we speak, the Veterans Administration health care system is being cut so severely that untold numbers of vets --both older-generation and currently returning-- will soon find themselves unable to attain necessary health care. This ca...

I don't know how to respond to Alexander's claim that "so much hate" is being exhibited here toward "one country" (presumably the U.S.). Virtually everyone here who has expressed opposition to the war has also expressed great and deeply-felt love & admiration for the ideals o...

... and, of course, his hobnobbing with both Lou Reed and Iggy Popp are well-known (whether or not that indicates an affinity for their music) -- I believe I also once saw a photo of him backstage with Devo.

When it comes to lamentations
I prefer Aretha Franklin
to, let's say, Leonard Cohen
Needless to add, he hears a different drum

-- LC [from somewhere in DEATH OF A LADY'S MAN]

"...I was divided into three parts. One part was given to a wife, one part was given to money, one part was given to the daisies... I broke under the sentnece of loneliness and the wound of my beautiful twin..." (from LC: The Final Revision Of My Life In Art, c. early - mid-70s)

Yup! I think it's that "stark but truthful contrast" to some of the other, more blissed-out love songs and anthems of the era that put a lot of people off from that album. In retrospect, it's obvious that Leonard had always been navigating (more or less) that same territory. But whether be...