EDITOR’S NOTE: In advance of Sigur Ros’ show at the Mann Center on Friday, we present this encore edition of my 2012 MAGNET cover story. BY JONATHAN VALANIA Iceland isn’t the end of the world but you can see it from here. This is both a blessing and to a lesser degree a curse. Much less. It is the land that time forgot, and as such a place of uncommon purity. Primeval is the word that comes to mind: smoldering volcanoes, black sand beaches, towering geysers, geothermal hot springs, epic waterfalls, vast lava fields that recede infinitely out to the […]
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FLAG OF OUR FATHERS: Let It Burn
NPR: In December 1860, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union just months after Abraham Lincoln, from the anti-slavery Republican Party, was elected president. In April 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter, S.C. Ten other states would eventually follow South Carolina in secession, forming the Confederate States of America. However, of the three flags the Confederacy would go on to adopt, none are the Confederate flag that is traditionally recognized today. The “Stars and Bars” flag, currently the subject of controversy, was actually the battle flag of Gen. […]
Those Who Never Bother To Learn History Are Doomed To Wear It As Faux-Hipster Tchotchkes
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Urban Outfitters, the official clothing store of Outrage Twitter, reached a new low yesterday when shoppers noticed that the site was selling a “vintage” Kent State sweatshirt, complete with blood spatter. The Ohio university was the site of the 1970 Kent State shooting, when the Ohio National Guard killed four students during a peace protest. Urban was selling the sweatshirt for the low, low price of $129 (after all, it’s one of a kind). But after the sweatshirt hit BuzzFeed, someone quickly scooped it up. Now, of course, it’s for sale on eBay. The starting bid […]
CONTEST: Win Tix To See Sigur Ros @ The Mann
Sigur Ros’ never-ending, globe-trotting tour began at the Mann almost exactly one year ago, trailing the release of the band’s sixth studio album, the ambient mellowness that is Valtari, and carries on in the wake of the release of its harsher, more rockist successor, Kveikur back in June. We have a pair of tickets for tomorrow night’s show at the Mann with the mesmerizing Julianna Barwick. To qualify, all you have to do is sign up for our mailing list (see right, below the masthead). Trust us, this is something you want to do. In addition to breaking news alerts […]
THIS JUST INNI: Sigur Ros @ The Mann 9/20!
Sigur Rós announce the ultimate U.S. leg of their globe-spanning tour, which will consist of a final, 20-show including their return to the Mann in Philadelphia on Friday, September 20th. The tour began at the Mann almost exactly one year ago trailing the release of the band’s sixth studio album Valtari, and will continue following next week’s release of its hard-rocking successor, Kveikur (out June 18th). Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 AM! NEW YORK TIMES: The concert lasted two hours. It introduced some strong new material from the band’s album “Kveikur,” to be released on XL Recordings […]
AMEN: Michelle Bachman Will Not Seek Re-Election
NEW YORK TIMES: Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican who made an ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year. She made the announcement just six months after being re-elected in what was her most challenging Congressional campaign since she was first elected to the House in 2006. Her announcement also comes as her former presidential campaign faces inquiries into its fund-raising activities. “I have decided next year I will not seek a fifth Congressional term,” she said in a video on her campaign Web […]
THE GROUNDHOG DAY OF AMERICAN F*CKEDNESS: The 10 Most Outrageous Political Carryovers From 2012
1. Some $500 billion of hard-earned taxpayer money will be squandered in the next 12 months in the form of corporate welfare and archaic, outmoded, completely useless military overkill. As usual, the giveaway will be perpetrated by literally thousands of the most consistently hypocritical bastards on the face of the earth, i.e., your elected local, state and national representatives. Surprisingly, it will be condoned (in at least one instance) by a somewhat two-faced but nevertheless respected national publication. 2. Under federal law, marijuana use and distribution is still illegal. Period. Just because Colorado and Washington state have taken the […]
TEA PARTY SENATE CANDIDATE: Pregnancy Resulting From Rape ‘Is Something That God Intended To Happen’
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock opposes abortion even in the case of rape and incest, he said at a Tuesday night debate, because pregnancy from rape is “something that God intended to happen.” Mourdock, who is in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly, was responding to a question about whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape or incest. “I know there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view, but I believe that life begins at conception,” the tea party-backed Mourdock said. “The only exception I have, to have an […]
RNC: Man Whose Cars Have Their Own Elevator Described As Regular Guy By Woman With Two Cadillacs And No Job
Artwork by DONKEYHOTEY & STEVE BRODNER/THE NATION THE BOROWITZE REPORT: On the opening night of the 2012 Republican National Convention, the Presidential nominee Mitt Romney received fulsome praise for being a “regular, down-to-earth guy” from his wife, Ann, whose dressage horse, Rafalca, competed in the London Olympics. “Mitt has never let his success go to his head,” Mrs. Romney said. “Take away the seven-thousand-square-foot house in La Jolla and the bank account in the Caymans, he’s still the same fun-loving boy who pinned a gay kid to the ground and cut off his hair.” Mrs. Romney adopted an intimate tone […]
MEGADICK: Dave Mustaine Accuses President Of Staging Dark Knight Massacre To Pass Gun Ban
METAL UNDERGROUND: Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, who is no stranger to controversial statements and has repeatedly stated he doesn’t believe President Obama was born in the United States, has now said he believes Obama staged the recent shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin to “pass a gun ban.” Video of Mustaine making the statement can be viewed below. Dave says: “Back in my country, my president is trying to pass a gun ban, so he’s staging all of these, these murders, like the ‘Fast And Furious’ thing down at the border, Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there, and now […]
DICK-FIL-A: Christians Who Think Jesus Told Them That ‘God Hates Fags’ Are Doing It Wrong
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The chicken sandwich became a political statement for a day as supporters of the Chick-fil-A president’s stance against gay marriage caused traffic jams at the fast-food chain’s restaurants nationwide. Baking in the Southern California summer heat, lines of Chick-fil-A fans snaked around the eateries and down streets Wednesday as patrons ignored gay rights advocates armed with “Cluck Off” signs and vuvuzelas urging them to eat elsewhere. Crammed drive-throughs caused traffic jams on nearby streets, often requiring attendants to direct cars. At several locations in Orange County and Long Beach, lunchtime crowds swelled to more than 100 […]
BRAIN DRAIN: Exit The Last Honest Man
NEWSWORKS: It wasn’t that long ago that the term “bioethics” wasn’t well known. But more than any other American scientist, Dr. Arthur Caplan has been credited for bringing this somewhat abstract intersection of philosophy and medicine into to the public discourse. After founding the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics, Caplan is now taking his expertise to New York University. Caplan’s office at 36th and Market streets looks eerily neat: no piles of folders in corners, only a few book in shelves that were once filled to capacity, no photos or awards. It’s all packed away. All this calmness is […]
WHY DEMS ALWAYS LOSE: A Q&A With Righteous Mind Author Jonathan Haidt
[Illustration by Johnny Selman] You’re smart. You’re liberal. You’re well informed. You think conservatives are narrow-minded. You can’t understand why working-class Americans vote Republican. You figure they’re being duped. You’re wrong. So begins William Saletan’s recent book review of Jonathan Haidt’s Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion in the New York Times. Haidt, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, argues that the left will continue to fail to capture the sympathies of the Great American Middle until it begins to understand what motivates ordinary people. Haidt argues that contrary to the conventional […]