Yes, sorry I got it wrong. I was repeating a piece of (apparently) misinformation told to me by someone who also referred me to Baez' 1992 song "Ring Them Bells" which is about ritual abuse of children. He said Baez' father was at Cornell for a period -- it's not impossible that he was, bu...

Just happened to be reading an article about Leo Strauss, the German-Jewish philosopher who came to America and inspired the current gang of neo-conservatives in power. Strauss -- who was not religious -- taught that religion is absolutely necessary FOR THE MASSES, as a means of social control. Fran...

I know few people who are not a complicated mixture of Left and Right. Apparently -- and I don't have time to research this now, but it's come up in my reading recently -- Barry Goldwater had a few good points. And Bob Dylan is NOT my hero, but watching the Scorcese documentary, I could see why he s...

They didn't ask him if there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- they asked where he was born. He lied and said "New Mexico." The difference between Dylan and the Bush administration is that George, who is wired for sound and repeats messages spoken in his earpiece by his handlers,...

Not that I can add much to all that has been said on the tiny topic of Mel Gibson's drunken remarks-- in this instance I tend to side with Tchocolatl in finding it all a little absurd It's clear that some people here see Cohen as more of a "thinker" or at least an influence on their thinki...

Montreal writer David Himmelstein has some interesting things to say about the causes of anti-Semitism in the context of wars on terrorism and other unending quagmires: http://www.counterpunch.org/himmelstein08022006.html Unlike Lizzy, I don't think Gibson's outburst was a publicity stunt. More like...

Yesterday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez compared Israel's bombing campaign in Lebanon to Nazi war crimes: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04656541.htm So my question is: if Gibson's remarks were beyond the pale, are Chavez' remarks acceptable? It is not okay to target a whole people -- ...

however, has anyone noticed this item about Bono attending Bohemian Grove this past weekend? http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/blair-to-attend-bohemian-grove-this-weekend Is Bono -- savior of Africa -- part of that circle of men who rule the world and like to frolic in the bushes, commit lewd acts...

Sorry to hear you're leaving Tchock -- but maybe it's good to get away from the keyboard, and onto, say, a bicycle -- especially as the weather is so gorgeous and we have our whole life in front of us.

I just remembered someone else who loves Leonard Cohen: Martin McGinniss, of Belfast, talks about how he and other IRA paramilitaries locked up in the British Army prison, used to listen all day to Leonard's music. Now what does this say? I have no idea -- perhaps it speaks to his universal appeal, ...

Maybe it's off topic to talk about religion and politics under the heading "Leonard and Prince Charles" but somehow, I don't believe that -- as if religion and politics were not behind everything that happens in the world, including the current bombing of Lebanon and what people are thinki...

<<That is, of course, not by coincidence that you ended up at that young family's home. So sad, even to the point of their lawn remaining unmowed. For a simple visit to their homeland, they lost everything. >> Yes, sad, and I just can't get their smiling faces out of my mind. In retrospect, what mad...

Tchoc, this war was started when two Israeli soldiers were "kidnapped" -- but it turns out they were inside Lebanon and this is not actually kidnapping, it's capturing enemy soldiers who are inside your territory. And the response is all-out bombing of towns, cities, civilians, refugees. O...

One thing I know for sure: Jesus would swat George Bush.

Hi Tchoc Did I say Jesus was a terrorist?? Now I think you have a wild and dark imagination that reads between the lines seeing things that aren't there... but this is also maybe a creative occupation of yours. We're not allowed to discuss politics in this thread, otherwise I would say a lot more. A...