The Corner | National Review Online

The Corner | National Review Online: "Now, knowing that, how many times do you think that Berlusconi was required to appear in court before 1994? And how many times between 1994 and today?

Sorry, not even close. The answers are 0 and 2,800 respectively.

For 19 years Berlusconi managed to combine being prime minister (three times) and leader of the opposition with a successful career as full-time permanent defendant. Tom Wolfe never imagined a Great White Defendant of his stature. And in all those years he managed to avoid final conviction even if he sometimes lost cases in the lower courts. (Another appeal is still pending.) He refutes the iron-clad certainty of out-of-control over-zealous prosecutors that if you throw enough charges at someone, the court is bound to think they must be guilty of something."

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This is part of the reason that whole "phony" tax scandal is actually a real scandal that should be a very big deal.

Paul: Christie is the ‘king of bacon’ on government spending – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Paul: Christie is the ‘king of bacon’ on government spending – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs: ""Why would he want to pick a fight with the one guy who has a chance to grow the party by appealing to the youth and appealing to people who would like to see a more moderate and less aggressive foreign policy?""

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Help us Rand Paul, you're our only hope!

Is there an explanation. . .

Facebook: "Wonderful skies tonight near Lochwinnoch"

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Does evolutionary biology have an explanation for human appreciation of the beauty of nature?

I see the obvious explanation for human appreciation of female/male beauty or sexuality. That facilitates reproduction. I see the explanation of human love, too--it encourages society and cooperation, which in turn, increase survival, and the opportunity to have sex.

But what is the explanation for the human appreciation of a beautiful sunset? It seems to me like a man gazing off at the sunset contemplating its beauty only serve to make him vulnerable to a wild animal attack.  I can't see how appreciation of beauty forwards man's survival the way increased reasoning and intelligence do.

The latest action in the war on women: Column

The latest action in the war on women: Column: "The funny thing, though, is that in the press, an isolated remark by a Republican candidate or radio host is treated as representative of the entire party. The behavior of these Democratic officeholders and candidates, on the other hand, is treated as an isolated incident -- and in many of the national media reports regarding Filner, his party affiliation is omitted, or not mentioned until paragraph 12."

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The latest action in the war on women: Column

The latest action in the war on women: Column: "As is usually the case, this stuff was no secret within the world of San Diego Democratic politics, but even though there were complaints, the leadership supported Filner anyway until things went public. And even afterward, until the pressure became too great, Democrats supported him. As with Bill Clinton, and his alleged assaults on Paula Jones, Juanita Broddrick and Kathleen Willey, tribal loyalties to party kin outweighed any concern for women as a group -- or for the accusers as individuals. The accusers were tossed over the side until the publicity became too strong to ignore. Democrats -- like Hillary with Bill -- stood by their man, Tammy Wynette-style."

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Letter to a Doubter | Interpreter

Letter to a Doubter | Interpreter: "The cosmos revolves on comforting the sick. When you act in this way, you are sharing in the love which built the stars.”9 Holiness is found in how we treat others, not in how we contemplate the cosmos. As our experiences in marriages, families, and friendship teach us, it takes relationships to provide the friction that wears down our rough edges and sanctifies us. Then, and only then, those relationships become the environment in which those perfected virtues are best enjoyed. We need those virtues not just here, but eternally, because “the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy” (D&C 130:2)."

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Zimmerman Trial Racist Laws | New Republic

Zimmerman Trial Racist Laws | New Republic: "This article has been corrected. Zimmerman called various law enforcement officials 46 times, not just 911, as originally stated. He made the calls over an eight-year period, not over the course of 15 months, as originally stated. The original sentence also cited a call Zimmerman made about a seven-year-old boy; the clause has been removed as it implied that Zimmerman was reporting suspicious activity. It appears that Zimmerman made the call out of concern. We regret the errors.    "

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I'm glad they eventually made the right call.

George Zimmerman Juror Says He 'Got Away With Murder' - ABC News

George Zimmerman Juror Says He 'Got Away With Murder' - ABC News: ""George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God. And at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with," Maddy said. "[But] the law couldn't prove it.""

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If it wasn't proved, how does she know he's a murderer?

The Corner | National Review Online

The Corner | National Review Online: "One of New York City’s mayoral candidates is demanding that Anthony Weiner apologize to Hispanics for his use of “Carlos Danger” as an online pseudonym."

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Lol.

The Volokh Conspiracy

The Volokh Conspiracy: "But then there are some shows that go completely beyond the pale of enjoyability, until they become nothing more than overwritten collections of tropes impossible to watch without groaning.

I think the worst offender here is the History Channel and all their programs on the so-called “World War II”.

Let’s start with the bad guys. Battalions of stormtroopers dressed in all black, check. Secret police, check. Determination to brutally kill everyone who doesn’t look like them, check. Leader with a tiny villain mustache and a tendency to go into apopleptic rage when he doesn’t get his way, check. All this from a country that was ordinary, believable, and dare I say it sometimes even sympathetic in previous seasons."

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Carlos Danger name generator: Use our widget to get a name like Anthony Weiner’s alleged sexting pseudonym. - Slate Magazine

Carlos Danger name generator: Use our widget to get a name like Anthony Weiner’s alleged sexting pseudonym. - Slate Magazine: "Correction, July 23, 2013: An earlier version of the Carlos Danger Name Generator suggested incorrectly that the Carlos Danger Name for Anthony Weiner is Armando Catastrophe. The Carlos Danger Name for Anthony Weiner is Carlos Danger."

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EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty: "They're right that the French people who are working are some of the most productive people in the world. But that doesn't mean that the French have something to teach us.

Here's what's going on. The French minimum wage in 2009 was 8.71 Euros per hour. At the exchange rate then of $1.33 to the Euro, that translates to $11.58 an hour. That means that people in France whose value of marginal product was less than $11.58 an hour did not have jobs. So who was left? Only those whose value of marginal product was above $11.58 an hour. That's how the average wage in France could be so high. The French government lopped off a large portion of the population, the least-productive portion."

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Althouse

Althouse: "It's entirely fitting that her name should be forever linked to the motto "Racist and Proud," because that isn't a lie. It's true. It is racist to press the racism template onto the Zimmerman story, and it is done with full intent to stimulate feelings of race-based anxiety in vulnerable minds. That is heartless and evil."

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When Law Is No Longer a Safe Bet - Bloomberg

When Law Is No Longer a Safe Bet - Bloomberg: "That’s not to say that things aren’t getting worse; I think they are. But remember that we are not facing anything that our ancestors didn’t have to cope with. Insecurity is rarely fatal, even if it’s really frightening."

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When Law Is No Longer a Safe Bet - Bloomberg

When Law Is No Longer a Safe Bet - Bloomberg: "Now the professionals are discovering what it feels like to bet your youth on something that may not pan out. These articles on the decline of the industries that absorbed decades of humanities graduates have a panicked tone. If an education doesn’t guarantee you a good job, what does? Are we living in a society in which all but the most ruthless go-getters will be economically insecure?"

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The Corner | National Review Online

The Corner | National Review Online: "How odd that the Royal Family wouldn’t elect to use a system that is, as we hear from MPs constantly, the “envy of the world.”"

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Althouse

Althouse: "This is going to be so difficult for the Zimmerman haters, and I want to help. Remember, the FBI document said:

In an April interview with two FBI agents, Christopher Serino, the Sanford Police Department’s lead investigator on the Martin killing... “described Zimmerman as overzealous and as having a ‘little hero complex,’ but not as a racist.”

So he's out there, roaming around Sanford — not running as far out of town as he can — looking for people in trouble so he can play this demented "protector" role to his community. It's just pathetic. Here he is, prowling the streets, looking for signs of trouble and leaping into action. Wasn't he told to stay in his car?

So feel free to go ahead and use that, Zimmerman haters. I know this is tough for you. Another idea: Change the subject to the terrible problem of SUVs rolling over. That's a great old issue that could be recycled."

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George Zimmerman Emerged From Hiding to Rescue Family Trapped in SUV - ABC News

George Zimmerman Emerged From Hiding to Rescue Family Trapped in SUV - ABC News: "George Zimmerman, who has been in hiding since he was acquitted of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, emerged to help rescue a family who was trapped in an overturned vehicle, police said today.

Zimmerman was one of two men who came to the aid of a family of four -- two parents and two children -- trapped inside a blue Ford Explorer SUV that had rolled over after traveling off the highway in Sanford, Fla. at approximately 5:45 p.m. Thursday, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office said in a statement."

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Bill Cosby: Zimmerman Acquittal Not About Race

Bill Cosby: Zimmerman Acquittal Not About Race: "Cosby, an outspoken voice on cultural issues, says the recent trial did not prove that Zimmerman had racist motives at any point during his confrontation with Martin. That means race shouldn't be a part of the conversation regarding the case.

“Let’s not go into a racial discussion unless we really have something there,” he told radio hosts Domenick Nati and Nate Foutz."

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Obama: 'Trayvon Could Have Been Me'

Obama: 'Trayvon Could Have Been Me': "“Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”"

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Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict" | RealClearPolitics

Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict" | RealClearPolitics: "I just feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form -- a lot of black people are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism, they say only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands."

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Congressman: Benghazi Survivors Forced to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements | The Weekly Standard

Congressman: Benghazi Survivors Forced to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements | The Weekly Standard: ""According to trusted sources that have contacted my office, many if not all of the survivors of the Benghazi attacks along with others at the Department of Defense, the CIA have been asked or directed to sign additional non-disclosure agreements about their involvement in the Benghazi attacks. Some of these new NDAs, as they call them, I have been told were signed as recently as this summer.""

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Greg Mankiw's Blog: Observations on the Great Gatsby Curve

Greg Mankiw's Blog: Observations on the Great Gatsby Curve: "The application of this corollary to the Great Gatsby curve is that if we looked at Europe as a whole, rather than each nation separately, we would find that Europe as a whole has more inequality and less mobility than the individual countries.  That is, Germans are richer on average than Greeks, and that difference in income tends to persist from generation to generation.  When people look at the Great Gatsby curve, they omit this fact, because the nation is the unit of analysis.  But it is not obvious that the political divisions that divide people are the right ones for economic analysis.  We combine the persistently rich Connecticut with the persistently poor Mississippi, so why not combine Germany with Greece?"

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Excite News - Only lawyers now can argue before Supreme Court

Excite News - Only lawyers now can argue before Supreme Court: "New York resident Samuel H. Sloan, now 68, was the last non-lawyer to do it when he represented himself in 1978 in a lawsuit involving stock trading. Sloan says he interviewed several lawyers who volunteered to represent him for free, just for the prestige of appearing before the court, but he decided to handle the job himself.

"It wasn't on an ego thing or anything like that," he said recently. "I wanted to win the case. I was convinced I couldn't win the case in any other way but to argue my own case.""

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George Zimmerman's Acquittal: Four Blunt Observations - Businessweek

George Zimmerman's Acquittal: Four Blunt Observations - Businessweek: "1. George Zimmerman was at fault for killing Trayvon Martin.
Ignore the pious post-verdict declarations by Zimmerman’s (skilled) defense lawyers. The police dispatcher told Zimmerman to stay in his car. If the wannabe cop had followed reasonable instructions and/or had decent training as a neighborhood watchman, he would have remained in his vehicle. Zimmerman deserves heavy blame."

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Except this isn't true. The dispatcher didn't say stay in the car. He said "we, don't need you to do that [follow Martin]" after Zimmerman was already out of the car trying to see the street sign and see which way Martin was going.

Defend our Law and Culture, Not George Zimmerman | National Review Online

Defend our Law and Culture, Not George Zimmerman | National Review Online: "America needs to know Roderick Scott. Thanks to a Glenn Reynolds post, I ran across the 2009 story of a man acquitted of manslaughter charges after he saw three teenagers appearing to break into his car. He walked outside (late at night) carrying a handgun to confront the kids. He ordered the kids to freeze, but — according to his testimony — one of the kids charged towards him saying that he was going to “get” Scott. Scott shot the teenager twice. The news reports I’ve reviewed don’t indicate that the teenager was armed, but do state that he had alcohol and drugs in his system. Unlike in the Zimmerman trial, there were other direct witnesses to the incident, and one of them claimed that Scott fired his weapon when the victim was simply standing still, hands in the air.

After two days of deliberations, the jury found Roderick Scott not guilty.

The catch? Roderick Scott is a black adult (a pretty big guy, judging by his picture); the victim was a white teenager."

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Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online

Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online: "Corey’s office contends that Kruidbos was fired for poor job performance and for leaking personnel records. The termination notice delivered to Kruidbos last Friday read: “You have proven to be completely untrustworthy. Because of your deliberate, wilful and unscrupulous actions, you can never again be trusted to step foot in this office.” Less than two months before this letter, Kruidbos had received a raise for “meritorious performance.”"

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Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online

Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online: "Corey’s post-trial performance has been less than admirable as well. Asked in a prime-time interview with HLN how she would describe George Zimmerman, Corey responded, “Murderer.” Attorneys who spoke with me called her refusal to acknowledge the validity of the jury’s verdict everything from “disgusting” to “disgraceful.”"

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Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online

Angela Corey’s Checkered Past | National Review Online: "Corey knows about personal vendettas. They seem to be her specialty. When Ron Littlepage, a journalist for the Florida Times-Union, wrote a column criticizing her handling of the Christian Fernandez case — in which Corey chose to prosecute a twelve-year-old boy for first-degree murder, who wound up locked in solitary confinement in an adult jail prior to his court date — she “fired off a two-page, single-spaced letter on official state-attorney letterhead hinting at lawsuits for libel.”"

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Jury Finds Roderick Scott Not Guilty - Rochester

Jury Finds Roderick Scott Not Guilty - Rochester: "Not guilty: The verdict in the manslaughter trial of Roderick Scott. After more than 19 hours of deliberations over two days, a jury acquitted the Greece man in the shooting death of Christopher Cervini, 17, last April.

"I just want to say thank you to the people who believed in me, who stood by me,” Scott said following the verdict. “I still have my regrets for the Cervini family; it's still an unfortunate situation for them. I am happy that at least this chapter is over.""

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Trayvon Martin verdict: Racism, hate crimes prosecution, and other overreactions. - Slate Magazine

Trayvon Martin verdict: Racism, hate crimes prosecution, and other overreactions. - Slate Magazine: "I almost joined the frenzy. Yesterday I was going to write that Zimmerman pursued Martin against police instructions and illustrated the perils of racial profiling. But I hadn’t followed the case in detail. So I sat down and watched the closing arguments: nearly seven hours of video in which the prosecution and defense went point by point through the evidence as it had been hashed out at the trial. Based on what I learned from the videos, I did some further reading.
It turned out I had been wrong about many things."

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A Dagger at the Heart of Justice | National Review Online

A Dagger at the Heart of Justice | National Review Online: "Needless to say, even in a nutso jurisdiction like Florida, the crime of “child abuse” was never intended to cover a wizened old granny kicking the ankle of the punk who’s mugging her a week before his 18th birthday. But, if Aggravated Pedophilia is what it takes to fry that puffy white cracker’s butt, so be it."

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Polling Shows That Sources Of Racism Have Reversed Themselves - Investors.com

Polling Shows That Sources Of Racism Have Reversed Themselves - Investors.com: "Among whites, according to the same Rasmussen poll, 38% consider most blacks racist and 10% consider most whites racist. Broken down by politics, the same poll showed that 49% of Republicans consider most blacks racist, as do 36% of independents and 29% of Democrats."

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The Mormons . Interviews . Marlin Jensen | PBS

The Mormons . Interviews . Marlin Jensen | PBS: "I keep thinking to myself -- and this may sound not very humble -- but as I associate throughout the church and I keep meeting these tremendous people, educated people, accomplished people, artistic people, who are totally devoted to this religion, whether it's [former Mass. Gov.] Mitt Romney or some world-class scientist or whoever it may be, I keep thinking to myself, there must be something right about Mormonism. When is someone going to take notice that there are fine people here in America who, by and large, are going places? ...

I have wondered and worried about why we aren't gaining greater acceptance more quickly and why, for instance, a presidential candidacy by Mitt Romney or anyone else who's a member of the church would be problematic to anyone. I mean, he's in some ways as mainstream as a man can be and has a strong marriage and a good family. He's been successful in almost everything he's touched in life, and you don't read about him. Why? ..."

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Althouse: "The Zimmerman trial says a lot about race in America — just not what the mainstream media want the story to be."

Althouse: "The Zimmerman trial says a lot about race in America — just not what the mainstream media want the story to be.": ""Look at the residents of this 'gated community' who lived just in that one spot.  It is more diverse than a Democrat photo-op.  This neighborhood had young and old, Asians and blacks and whites and Hispanics all living next to each other in peace, but needing a gates and a neighborhood watch to protect themselves from outsiders.""

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George Zimmerman Probably Won't Be Convicted of Murder or Manslaughter -- Here's Why - ABC News

George Zimmerman Probably Won't Be Convicted of Murder or Manslaughter -- Here's Why - ABC News: "I certainly sympathize with the anger and frustration of the Martin family and doubt that a jury will accept the entirety of George Zimmerman's account as credible. But based on the legal standard and evidence presented by prosecutors it is difficult to see how jurors find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that it wasn't self defense."

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We've had a number of these cases now where Al Sharpton-like characters have imposed a racial template to claim that a person is getting away with something (in Zimmerman case, literally murder) because the victim is black. Almost all of these claims have been discredited.

(1) Tawana Brawley's claim that she was raped by police did not convince a grand jury.
(2) Sharpton's claim that the prosecutor was one of the rapists was the subject of a civil suit for defamation, which the prosecutor won. (maybe this is double counting, and should be thought of as part of (1) above)
(3) The DNA evidence makes O. J. Simpson's defense team's claim that he was innocent and only prosecuted because of racist cops, very unlikely.
(4) The case that the white, privileged Duke Lacrosse players raped the black stripper fell apart when the finger players all had air-tight alibis.*
(5) The best evidence now indicates that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

The only one of these that I can think of that may have had merit is Rodney King's case that the police used excessive force.

Am I leaving relevant cases out?

*Yes there was--the Duke Lacrosse case.

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WELCOME TO THE GENITAL WARS: “Should there be gender equity in genital cutting? In Germany (and muc…

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WELCOME TO THE GENITAL WARS: “Should there be gender equity in genital cutting? In Germany (and muc…: "WELCOME TO THE GENITAL WARS: “Should there be gender equity in genital cutting? In Germany (and much of Europe), the native inhabitants tend to argue there is moral equivalence between customary male circumcision and customary female circumcision and both should be proscribed. In Sierra Leone (and several other countries in Africa), the native inhabitants tend to argue there is moral equivalence between customary male circumcision and customary female circumcision and both should be permitted. In the United States, the native inhabitants tend to argue against moral equivalence, permitting customary circumcisions for boys while proscribing them for girls. Who has the better of the argument?”"

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I think this is a hard argument to rebut because no one really want to talk about the reason male and female circumcision are different. But they are different. Male circumcision still allows a man to enjoy sex. Does it reduce the enjoyment? Maybe some, but I doubt significantly. However, as I understand it, female circumcision dramatically reduces sexual pleasure for women.

Paula Deen, agent part ways after racial slur fallout

Paula Deen, agent part ways after racial slur fallout: "The Food Network passed on renewing Deen's contract and yanked her shows off the air. Smithfield Foods, the pork producer that paid Deen as a celebrity endorser, dropped her soon after. Retailers including Wal-Mart and Target said they'll no longer sell Deen's products and publisher Ballantine scuttled plans for her upcoming cookbook even though it was the No. 1 seller on Amazon. Even the diabetes drug company that made the much-criticized deal to hire Deen as a paid spokeswoman dumped her."

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I get the feeling that this is happening to Deen because she's from the South, and so is perceived to be a conservative, even though she's actually not.

Althouse

Althouse: "“I’m sorry,” I told him. “But I don’t have any friends.”

He chuckled. “No, but seriously, Mr. Sedriz, this new camera phone is far superior to the one you already have.”

When I told him I didn’t already have one, he said, “All the better!”

“No,” I said, “I don’t want one. I don’t need it.”

“How can you not need a cell phone?”

“Because nobody ever calls me?”

“Well, how can they?” he argued."

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The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero - NYTimes.com

The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero - NYTimes.com: "Music changed everything for him, especially after he discovered punk rock. “I’d have to say that was the first defining event in my life,” he told me. “In punk there’s an extreme kind of conformity to all the nonconformity. You realize in all this rebellion that everyone’s doing the same thing. But in a weird way, that’s what kind of lets you eventually forget the rules, and you can be yourself.”"

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The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero - NYTimes.com

The Rock ’n’ Roll Casualty Who Became a War Hero - NYTimes.com: "We made it past the bunks to the lounge. And there he was: Soundgarden’s bassist, Jason Everman. You couldn’t look more “rock dude” than he did: all that hair, the dour expression. It was an imposing energy to encounter in tubular mood lighting. And he was the first person I ever met with a nose ring. At the time, I read it as a flashing sign that said, “I will have unbearable attitude.” But he didn’t at all. In fact, he was smart and had a dry wit. He offered me Funyuns."

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