glum

This morning on the radio I heard Paul Greengrass saying pretty much this:

1. "Four airplanes were hijacked, leading to the deaths of a large number of innocent people. That hijacking we all acknowledge."
2. "There was also the hijacking of a religion. Because that's what occurred when a group of young men, jihadists, who selectively ignored the great bulk of thousands of years of Islamic tolerance and learning, asserted an absolute perversion of Islam as the one true interpretation."

I feel like there was a third hijacking, if not that day then soon after. I feel like I'm living in a hijacked nation.

From Ebert's review, this reminder: "That the majority of Muslims disapprove of terrorism goes without saying; on 9/12, there was a candlelight vigil in Iran for the United States." I remember that. It was astounding, that global outpouring of sympathy. And now it's five years later, not even, and look where we are.

Glenn Greenwald's book, How Would A Patriot Act?, looks pretty terrific.


Other stuff:

• Download ten eleven songs by the Free French, especially if you like XTC. So far my favorite is "Fireman".
  
• Advice to teenage writers. Possibly of interest to adult writers too.
  
• Will the PERFORM Act, sponsored by Senators Graham and Feinstein, outlaw MP3 streaming?