“The Western press has lamentably failed to peer inside the black box of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Short of an extraordinary humiliation, the Washingtonian policymakers will continue to insist that they ‘need’ Saudi Arabia even more than they ‘need’ Pakistan” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, pp. 249).
Different Costumes, Same Trick
“In [Sinead] O’Connor, this shtick is touted as a pure product of her brooding Irish soul. In Nirvana, it is praised as a distillation of Seattle despair. In fact, it is a cliché of expressionist theater, passed down through performance art (via Yoko Ono) to punk” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 318).
It Is? Things are Better Than I Thought
“The only expanding, local Saudi industry is that of Islamic extremism. In 1966, the vice president of the Islamic University of Medina complained that Copernican theory was being taught at Riyadh University” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, pp. 247).
Just Plain Screaming
“It’s ironic how some of those [lefty] elders, after years of hating heavy metal, learn to love it the moment a metal group becomes ‘intelligent,’ meaning politically correct. Among hardcore bands, the same advance in ‘intelligence’ is achieved whenever a group switches from just plain screaming to screaming about current events” (Martha Bayles, Hole in …
Christian Street Festival
For those of you who are within driving distance of Moscow, go ahead and mark your calendars for September 9. South Main will be closed off, and a good time will be had by many if not all. Make particular note of the one dollar hamburgers.
A Grasping Faith
“East Timor was an Islamic jihad against Christian infidels, identical in form and purpose to other tragedies caused by Islam’s insatiable appetite for other people’s lands, property, bodies, and souls” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, pp. 215).
Street Crud is not the Same as Street Cred
“It’s worth noting that, for all their reputation as street rebels, the Sex Pistols rarely ventured beyond the ‘playpens’ of the art colleges” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 309).
Dr. Frankenstani
“The assumption all along has been that the Islamic genie released by Dr. Brzezinski’s ‘excellent idea’ could be controlled through its eventual reduction to yet another humanistic project in self-celebration, through it adherent’s immersion in the consumerist culture, and through their children’s multicultural indoctrination by state education. How well it has worked we can see …
Rock Journalism
“Much of [Zappa’s] satire was well aimed, as when he famously defined rock journalism as ‘people who can’t write interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read’” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 292).
And Some People Think the Religious Right Created the Taliban
“In the event, President Carter secretly authorized $500 million (closer to a billion in today’s money) to help create an international network that would spread Islamism in Central Asia and ‘destabilize’ the Soviet Union. The CIA called this ‘Operation Cyclone,’ and in the following years poured over $4 billion into setting up Islamic training schools …