”YOU CAN’T BE HALF Jewish,’ is what Jews will say. ‘Which parent
is it? Father? Then you’re not Jewish.’ Most Jews, religious or
not, will say this. . . . Proust was half Jewish. Dorothy Parker
was half Jewish. Frida Kahlo was half Jewish. Walter Mosley is half
Jewish and half black. Adrienne Rich is half Jewish but solved it
by being a lesbian. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leading Russian right
winger, is half Jewish (and clearly crazy); Grigory Yavlinsky, the
leading Russian liberal, is half Jewish. From my perspective (am I
the only person who has realized this?) anybody with one Jewish
parent is half Jewish.’
Andrew Moss, University of California medical school
professor, Halfjew.com (Dec. 7, 2000)
‘MY SAYING IS, ‘When the going gets rough, the average get
conservative.’ ‘
Henry Rollins, punk rock spoken word poet, Real
Conversations (RE/Search 2001)
‘IN MY OWN PRACTICE and rhetoric of simplicity I hoped to
relinquish grim motives of Puritanism and apocalyptism in favor of
the sensuous, for in our senses we are closest to our nature
through our nature. Enjoying the least things–a chill glass of
water, a moment of play with the cat, the sight of sunlight caught
in the frost spangling the pine needles–has become my form of
prayer, with ‘Thank you’ for ‘Amen.”
Stephanie Mills, environmental activist, Resurgence,
(Nov./Dec. 2000)
‘I AM PRETTY FEARLESS, and you know why? Because I don’t handle
fear very well; I’m not a good terrified person. I learned that a
long time ago. You know when you walk into your house and there’s
nobody there and all the lights are out. . . . I just fearlessly go
into the dark, because I know if I start creepin’ out that it’ll
get me.’
Stevie Nicks, musician, Interview (May 2001)
‘AMERICA IS NOT VIOLENT because of movies. Movies are violent
because of America. Americans came here and murdered the indigenous
population and committed genocide and created this free democratic
culture based on the mass graves of the indigenous population. Mass
murder is part and parcel of this culture.’
Ian Kerkhof, South African-born filmmaker, Comet
(Spring 2001)
‘I CAN SOMETIMES IDENTIFY with things our society sees as
stereotypically male, the male part of myself. When I would catch
myself objectifying my girlfriend or leering at women in the
street, I was offended by myself for relating to that kind of
energy.’
Amy Ray, Indigo Girl, Girlfriends (April 2001)
Number of ‘coffee drinks’ available at Starbucks, whose stores
accommodate a stream of more than 5 million customers per week,
most of whom hurry in and out ………… 26
Number of ‘coffee drinks’ available to Jack Kerouac, Allen
Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and other beatnik writers as they
sat in Greenwich Village coffeehouses listening to jazz and talking
about art, literature, and life until dawn ………… 2
From World Watch (March/April 2001)
—Compiled by Carey L.Biron, Colette Davidson, and Jeremy
Swanson