The third war. August 28, 2007
Posted by Lindsay in Criticism, Hyperreality, Media, Soldiers, War.add a comment
Christopher Hitchens is admirable for his refusal to cater to extremes of moral relativism by tolerating archaic, reprehensible practices, even if he never does quite manage to avoid sounding bombastic and narrow-minded when he does it. In general, I agree with him that religion is one of the most harmful systems to ever permeate civilization, even though I probably respect its positive attributes for people who feel they need it in their lives a little more than he does. But he is perhaps the only remaining member of the intelligentsia who manages to defend the Iraq War while maintaining his dignity. He usually argues compellingly, but ultimately, his interpretations of the evidence he finds are misconceptions.
In his latest valiant attempt, he says that based on the multitude of fronts we are fighting, the Iraq War is actually three wars, and that the United States is winning two of them. “There are currently at least three wars, along with several subconflicts, being fought on Iraqi soil. The first, tragically, is the battle for mastery between Sunni and Shiite. The second is the campaign to isolate and defeat al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. The third is the struggle of Iraq’s Kurdish minority to defend and consolidate its regional government in the north,” says Hitch.
It’s an intriguing concept, but not quite new, because the third war — the one we’re losing, according to Hitch — is actually the “battle” with the Maliki government, and its failure to step up to take over the reins of controlling its own country. Hitch rightly condemns the Maliki government for relying too heavily on the presence of coalition troops and not working seriously enough for fair distribution of political influence in local and national government among the Kurdish, Shia, Sunni demographics, saying: “Maliki himself has recently attacked the coalition forces for carrying out raids in Shiite districts of Baghdad. Perhaps [Maliki] ought to be told that he is not being lent our armed forces for the purpose of installing Shiite power.”
The scratched lens of history: A closer look at the words of John Lennon August 24, 2007
Posted by Lindsay in Criticism, Feminism, History, Hyperreality, Media, Music, Race, Writing.1 comment so far
It’s always interesting to find what is and isn’t in the common consciousness of United States society when we talk of our beloved national figures (even if they are from the United Kingdom). I still remember watching “Come Together: A Night for John Lennon’s Words and Music,” that concert held in October 2001 at Radio City Music Hall. In all likelihood, it was planned several months before, and in light of the September 11 attacks, the producers apparently decided to jam a new theme into all the speeches that prefaced the performances–Lennon’s love of New York. The assertion of a connection between John Lennon and New York City apparently hinges on a classic black-and-white photo that tends to adorn the walls of the most pretentious college students’ dorms, projected on the walls behind Yoko Ono’s beaming, self-assured face. At that show, which supposedly celebrated the message of John Lennon’s music, and his connection to New York City, songs from his poorly received album, Some Time In New York City, were conveniently left off the set list. Of course, at first glance, the song entitled “New York City” might be an obvious choice for a concert about New York City, but upon inspection, the lyrics don’t quite capture the sentimental, romanticized vision of New York City that post-9/11 New Yorkers thought they so desparately needed…
Well we did the Staten Island Ferry
Making movies for the telly
Played the Fillmore and Apollo for freedom
Tried to shake our image
Just a cycling through the Village
But found that we had left it back in London
Well nobody came to bug us
Hustle us or shove us
So we decided to make it our home
If the Man wants to shove us out
We gonna jump and shout
The Statue of Liberty said, “Come!”
What’s this? Is John Lennon suggesting that the practices of the powers that be don’t live up to the promise of the United States’s ideals? But how could this be? We New Yorkers and apparently, no other city in the United States, were victimized by a bunch of cowardly towel-heads who tried to suggest that capitalism, not freedom, is the prominent theme of American life, and here comes some dead British guy who’s songs we used to make out to in our parents’ bedrooms who refuses to support our misguided attempt at injecting grandiosity into his lyrics!
Title track. August 23, 2007
Posted by Lindsay in Announcements.add a comment
The ‘Intertextuality’ page is where I’ll post original works as sub-pages. There you can find my novella, Minstrel.
I’ll start making regular posts soon. Until then, read my novella, or you can check out my personal blog, and my comic strip, Lucky + Guy.
