Friday, August 27, 2004

Great Artists and Intellectuals Think Alike, Apparently

A really bizarre interview with Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. If he sounds like some of the lunatic left of the United States, this is no surprise, since he was both a communist and a fascist at different times of his life:
Question: Mr. Theodorakis, on November 4, 2003 you said in this house the words that shocked Jews and non-Jews across the world. You said that the Jewish people are at the root of evil. What did you mean?

Answer: "For me the root of evil today is the policy of President Bush. It is a fascist policy. I cannot understand how is it that the Jewish people, who have been the victims of Nazism, can support such a fascist policy. No other people in the world support those policies but Israel! This situation saddens me. I am a friend of Israel. I am a friend of the Jewish people. But the policy of Sharon and the support for the policy of Bush darkens the image of Israel. I am afraid that Sharon is going to lead the Jews - just as Hitler led the Germans - to the root of evil."

...

Let me explain to you the context for this reaction. Many Jews have a renewed fear of Europe. We are afraid that there is a new kind of anti-Semitism in Europe. So when you said what you said there was a feeling of thou too, Brutus. There was a feeling that even our old friend Theodorakis turned against us.

"I don't believe there is anti-Semitism in Europe. There is a reaction against the policy of Sharon and Bush. I think it's artificial to think there is a new anti-Semitism. It's an excuse. It's a way to avoid self-criticism. Rather than ask themselves what is wrong with the policy of Israel, Jews say the Europeans are against us because of the new anti-Semitism. Because they don't love us. And even Theodorakis says we are at the root of evil. This is a sick reaction."

Why? In what way is it a sick reaction?

"Because this kind of reaction is relevant to the psychopathology of the Jewish people. They want to feel victims. They want to have this comforting feeling. We are in the right, we are again victims. Let's create another ghetto. It's a masochistic reaction." The Jews are masochists?

"There is psychological masochism in the Jewish tradition."

Is there sadism as well?

"I'm certain that when Diaspora Jews talk among themselves, they feel satisfied. They feel that now, when we are so close to the greatest power in the world, no one can do anything to us. We can do whatever we like. This is why the claim of new anti-Semitism is not only a sick reaction, it's a sly reaction as well."

In what way is it sly?

"Because it really allows the Jews to do whatever they want. Not only psychologically, but also politically, it gives the Jews an excuse. The sense of victimhood. It gives them a license to hide the truth. There is no Jewish problem in Europe today. There is no anti-Semitism."

...

"In 1932 I was in Ioannina. There was a very big Jewish community there. I played with the Jewish boys all the time. My grandmother was very religious. She had a room full of icons. She sang psalms. Much of my music was influenced by her religious singing. And I remember that in springtime she said to me: Now that it's Easter, don't go to the Jewish quarter. Because during Easter the Jews put Christian boys in a barrel with knives inside. Afterward they drink their blood."

Was this story imprinted in your young mind?

"It was a very powerful image. Years later, before I became a communist, I was a member of a fascist youth movement. It was a state-sponsored movement during the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas. We walked up and down the streets in uniform and heiled all the time. It was a bit like the Hitler Youth but comical. One day they gave me an assignment: to talk the next day about communism. I went home and asked my mother what is communism. She said she didn't know but she thinks it's something evil. What kind of evil, I asked. Evil like the Jews, she said. So I asked her if the communists also put little boys in barrels with knives and drink their blood.

"What do I want to say by telling you all this? These things exist. I wasn't aware of it before, but now, through your questions, I realize it is there."

...

Do you think the Jews are fanatic?

"Something that is very negative can also be positive. If the Jews didn't have fanaticism, they wouldn't have existed. There is no evil without good. The Jews need this fanaticism. What one might call Jewish fanaticism has more to do with self-defense. It was through their religion that Jews were interconnected and kept together."

You seem to be fascinated by the Jews. Why?

"To be a community that disregards all dangers and remains true to its origins - that's a mystery. Look at France, for example. There is a huge community of Jews in France where there is a great civilization. But do the Jews become French? No. They speak the French language perfectly. They succeed in their work. But they are not French. They always think of going back to Jerusalem."

...

The Jews have international finance in their hands?

"They control a great deal of the world's finances."

So today's globalized capitalism is controlled very much by the Jews?

"Since we speak frankly, I will tell you something else. The Jewish people control most of the big symphonic orchestras in the world. When I wrote the Palestinian national anthem, the Boston Symphony was planning a production of my work. It is controlled by Jewish people. They didn't allow the concert to go on. Since then I cannot work with any great orchestra. They refuse me."

You ran into this problem with other orchestras too?

"Wherever there are Jews. Wherever there are orchestras controlled by Jewish people, they boycott my work."

You really feel Jews control much of the music world?

"Yes."

And the same applies to world finance?

"In America the Jewish community is very strong. It controls much of the economy. Certainly the mass media.

"Let me make myself clear: When the State of Israel was established, we were on the side of Israel. There was great sympathy toward Zionism because of what they suffered in the war. This is one side of the Jews. But the international Jewish community is also a negative phenomena. The Jewish people now appear to control the big banks. And often the governments. So whatever bad or evil comes from the governments, it's natural for ordinary people to associate that with the Jewish people."

You yourself think that the Jews, the international Jewish community, have control of the banks, Wall Street, the mass media?

"Yes."

And you say that now, through its influence on Bush, it has control of world affairs?

"Yes."
My mind just boggles.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Will She Ever Overcome The Shame?



The actress Anne Hathaway muses on her shocking past:
Hathaway, who shot to stardom with the original "Princess Diaries," embraces the girl-power films that made her a star, but as she moves into adulthood she said she's ready to distance herself from the saccharine roles she's known for.



"I'm a 21-year-old in a G-rated movie. This isn't exactly the kind of artistic choices that I want to be making right now, but at the same time, I'm grateful to be able to make them," she said.
It rather reminds of the joke about the little kid who, when the teacher asks the students what their fathers do for a living says, "He plays piano in a whorehouse." The teacher is so shocked that she abruptly sends everyone to recess, and questions the kid in private. "I'm sorry, but I was afraid of what people would think if I told them he was a lawyer."



Look, The Princess Diaries wasn't a great film, but it was entertaining. I laughed, I enjoyed Ms. Hathaway's performance in it--she definitely has a nice comic twist for physical humor, and she did the ugly duckling changes into a swan very convincingly. (It helps that she really is a swan in a wholesome, girl next door sort of way.) Is it really necessary for her to look down on a film that everyone can enjoy?

Sunday, August 8, 2004

Humor



This is strictly rude humor--it doesn't even rise to the level of waggish political commentary. A neighbor tells me that he recently saw a bumper sticker that said:
The Democratic Party is so full of [excremental expletive deleted] it has to have two Johns.

Sunday, August 1, 2004

Political Humor



A friend forwarded this to me, supposedly written by:
John E. Stoos



Chief Consultant for Senator Tom McClintock



Subject: Freedom of the press



Two boys in Boston were playing basketball when one of them was attacked by a rabid Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy ripped a board off a nearby fence, whacked the dog over the head and saved his friend.



A newspaper reporter from the Boston Herald witnessed the incident and

rushed over to interview the boy. The reporter began entering data into his

laptop, beginning with the headline: "Brave Young Celtics Fan Saves Friend From Jaws Of Vicious Animal."



"But I'm not a Celtics fan," the little hero interjected. "Sorry," replied

the reporter. "But since we're in Boston, Mass, I just assumed you were."

Hitting the delete key, the reporter began "John Kerry Fan rescues Friend

From Horrific Dog Attack."



"But I'm not a Kerry fan either," the boy responds. The reporter says, "I assumed everybody in this state was either for the Celtics or Kerry or Kennedy." "What team or person do you like?"



"I'm a Houston Rockets fan and I really like George W. Bush," the boy says. Hitting the delete key, the reporter begins again, "Arrogant Conservative Brat Kills Beloved Family Pet."
Hospital Humor



Some of these sound like legitimate typos when transcribing from hospital charts, some sound like a word was left out. Still pretty funny:
Hospital chart snippets



1. The patient refused autopsy.



2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.



3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.



4. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a

40-pound weight gain in the past three days.



5. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.



6. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.



7. On the second day, the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.



8. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.



9. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.



10. Discharge status: Alive, but without my permission.



11. Healthy appearing, decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.



12. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.



13. She is numb from her toes down.



14. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.



15. The skin was moist and dry.



16. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.



17. Patient was alert and unresponsive.



18. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.



19. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.



20. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.



21. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.



22. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.



23. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.



24. Skin: somewhat pale but present.



25. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.



26. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.



27. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.