Hey, would love to reply, but the comment didn't appear on Souciant. Holler!

Too funny

Thanks, flagmuffin. I appreciate it. Yes, I'm very involved with Souciant :>)

We're always looking for more stories in this area. I grew up reading British newspapers, and still follow them, as an adult. The news media in the UK is in terrible crisis, despite having better dailies than the US.

My favorite use of synths is when they're understated, or don't sound like synths. Mouse on Mars' late 1990s releases, for Thrill Jockey, are a great example. They introduced me to Nord synths, which remain a favorite. I like Dave Smith Instruments synths, too. The Evolver is a gem.

That's a good point, even though Femen turned out to be a bit of a con job, gender-wise. (And I say that very much enjoying Femen's interventions.)

Those are all good criticisms. I often find that with flyers like these, they are heavier on polemics than analytical precision.

I used to edit a great mag, by the name of Punk Planet. Unlike a lot of music mags of its ilk, politics came first, and always informed our approach to the noise we covered. PP folded in 2007. I'd have a hard time imagining starting it today, as its entire raison d'être was predicated on music being a gateway to the left. That's why Keith's article rang especially true, for me.

Thanks for the comment. Yes, I think that's entirely fair.

Thanks for your comment, Russ. yeah - that's the paradox of this portrait. It'd be hard to imagine such a protest in the US. That's Italy.

My pleasure. They were a fixture in the Bay Area during the Nirvana-Green Day period. Same generation of bands.

Heh. Well, Berlin is a leftwing paradise, in a lot of ways. For everybody. But it's still part of the former East, which, has not gone away, either politically, or culturally. It's a fascinating mix.

The political situation in Germany has been very polarized in recent years. There are fiercely anti-racist Germans, especially in the West. Those are the folks you'll tend to meet vacationing in Muslim countries, and Israel. Easterners tend to be more reactionary on questions of immigration and diversity. Not exclusively, but they get over-represented, particularly in places like Berlin, which is, of course, in the eastern half of the country.

Ahh, interesting. Yes, I know Dearborn well. I can't think of another place like it in the US. In Germany, Muslims tend to serve as proxies for Jews. The discrimination can be very similar. Turks, Palestinians, there's no difference to the haters, really. Their religion always comes first.

Barchiators - I'm in agreement with Paul Mutter. I don't see anything negative in his writeup. It's very nuanced, and appreciative, but careful to point out the limits of Polandball's irony, at the same time. The article even ironizes itself, to a certain degree, in the spirit of the meme, IE the title, and images shown. No Gawker here.

Absolutely. The original Ruts were great. They haven't lost any of their relevance, either.

That's awesome. You'd never see anything even remotely like that here in Europe.

Hah hah. That's brilliant. Yes, the law is as totalizing as it specifies. It's stupid. It really is.

You definitely summed things up, for a lot of people. I can't imagine a better way to explain what it means to be alienated by Obama. What astonishes me is the President's aloofness. Does he not get it?

Well-said. Yes, it's just a cover for the usual nonsense. I'm appalled that so many Americans continue to support it, though. The polls remain unfortunately in the program's favor.

Y, they're as old as the skinhead movement itself.

Here in Europe, Fred Perry is still a big deal. Mod-types still sport them, as do anti-racist skins (SHARPs) and the neo-Nazi, white laces crowd.

Yeah, it was a great show. My favorite Slayer LP is South of Heaven. If I remember correctly, there was a little bit of that record in the mix too.

I think it was great PR too. I particularly concur on the disarming part.

I spoke with a Turkish colleague about the gender representation. He said it surprised everyone, and attested to the fact that Erdogan has especially alienated female voters in Turkey, as well as in the diaspora.

Based on what I saw, he couldn't have been more correct.

Yeah, there are legitimate genre distinctions to be made. Crust punk is really an update of what was once called thrash, albeit with a D-beat emphasis a la Discharge. I hear more early Motorhead guitar harmonics than I do soloing, in the selections Magadh made, with the exception of the Werhmacht piece. I never liked those guys - saw them once with Slayer, in 1988. Portland never did speed metal well.

I'm so sorry to hear about the NPR bit. I stopped listening to All Things Considered years ago, for exactly those sorts of reasons. It's a dreadful situation, and ought to be one of those "the buck stops here" moments with the American public. Something is terribly wrong. The Tea Party, obviously, is not the answer. Nor is letting the military run rampant over American liberties.

Hah, that's a good and familiar story. I think it's a universal one, too, or at least close to such. No, I haven't seen The Visitor. But I will check it out, now.

That's a great anecdote. I love Istanbul. It's an intense and complicated city. I've been there several times, too. I agree with your conclusion. I think Turks are angry at their government and their business class, and don't feel as though anyone is looking out for the interests of the country, as a whole.

I think the problem is that Americans are increasingly disinterested in consuming news, especially foreign news. Newspapers and broadcasters are laying off foreign correspondents, in droves, or reassigning them to domestic gigs, when they can. I don't think this necessarily means Americans are disinterested in news per se, but that they can't relate to the content, or the way it's presented. It also partially explains the persistent popularity of European newspapers (the Guardian, for example) over their US competitors, despite the decline.

IBID on your third paragraph, especially.