Off-Topic: Howard Zinn, 1922 - 2010

Howard Zinn, Historian, Dies at 87

I read A People's History Of The United States in 2000 and it completely turned my head around. Professor Zinn will be missed - not by everybody, but certainly by me.

Off-Topic: In Case Keith Richards Isn't Available...

I saw this on CNN this morning:

NYC heroin pamphlet -- is it a help or a how-to guide?

Not sure how I feel about the brochure, but it was sure cool to hear them play "Dead Flowers" as a lead-in to the story.




Ah, the Mick Taylor-era Stones - THAT was a great fuckin' rock band.

(Semi-)Off-Topic: Happy Birthday, Alan!

Since I'm too lazy to come up with something clever to say myself, I'll just post Neil Gaiman's tweet:

And Happy Birthday to Alan Moore, Grand Wizard of Englandshire, famed ballroom dancer and classic beauty. He only twitters with his brain.

Have a good one, Affable Al. We love ya.

Off-Topic: Take That, Cheney!

Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Ernest Hemingway, and... Barack Obama?!?

A link to the New York Times story, including the full citation:

In Surprise, Obama Wins Nobel For Diplomacy

I see there's already 400+ comments on it. Holy crap! I follow stuff like this pretty closely, and I totally did not see this coming (neither did Obama, apparently).

Off-Topic: ALA Banned Books

I saw this link posted at John Coulthart's excellent online journal {feuilleton} and thought I'd post it here as well:

ALA Banned Books

Here's an article on the same topic in the American press, if you'd like to compare.

Authors, banned books part of 1st Amendment salute


Before anyone accuses me of "getting all political", I need to state that I feel that freedom of speech is protected by the U.S. Constitution and should therefore be considered a non-partisan issue, at least here in the States. It occasionally seems to me that my friends on the Right forget that their speech is protected by the First Amendment, too.

Off-Topic: In Memoriam - September 11, 2001

I always think of this song today. There are a lot of great covers of it, but Dylan's original remains my favorite.



"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Copyright ©1968; renewed 1996 Dwarf Music