French mix
“Influenced in part by their 6 million Muslim citizens, the French have allowed anti-Semitism to run amok within their borders. … iolent hate crimes in France jumped by more than 400 percent [in 2002] … and more than half the assaults were aimed at Jews. Two days after that statistic hit the news, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy was forced to issue a strong condemnation of a street attack on two Jews by antiwar demonstrators.
“A number of fundamentalist Muslims had recently been elected to the Paris city council, and Sarkozy took the occasion to issue a warning that the French would have condemned had it come from John Ashcroft: ’We have to say very simply: Imams who propagate views that run counter to French values will be expelled,’ Sarkozy told the Europe-1 radio network. … One former American journalist who has lived in France for 25 years observed that ’Anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-globalization, they mix it all up here.’ ”
— John Gibson, from his new book, “Hating America: The New World Sport”
Post-jiggle career
“For many, the memory of Suzanne Somers probably began to fade after she was fired in 1981 from ’Three’s Company,’ where she played Chrissy Snow, the iconic jiggle-blonde she’s still best remembered for. …
“[W]hile we have all thoroughly mulled more upscale lifestyle/spiritual pashas like Martha, Oprah and Dr. Phil, Suzanne Somers has gone about her business largely unnoticed — that is, except to the millions who have, in some way, bought into her brand. …
“Her fans have largely bought into Suzanne Somers on the Home Shopping Network, where she frequently can be found hawking a portion of what her eclectic empire has to offer. There is her line of clothing and jewelry. … There is her diet and exercise plan … that boasts over 3 million devotees. There is the SomerSkin line of potions. … Yes, there is the ThighMaster. And there are the books, like her current bestseller, ’The Sexy Years,’ which focuses on her controversial approach to menopause.”
— Rebecca Traister, writing on “The red-state Martha,” Saturday in Salon at www.salon.com
Accidental ’Idols’
“Simon [Cowell’s] odd belief that he’s a wit isn’t the only fascinating bit of cognitive dissonance on display on ’American Idol.’ Another is that, on a show in which three judges purport to be tastemakers, nobody — neither singers nor judges — has any taste. It’s not just that the judges are playing at being profit-conscious record execs, suppressing their own quirky predilections for the sake of the bottom line. Neither Randy [Jackson] nor Paula [Abdul] nor Simon even seems capable of a real aesthetic misgiving. …
“On ’Idol,’ the fixation on singing is itself so reductive it verges on, if not mechanics, then athletics. The judges occasionally feign an interest in style, but when it comes down to it, they want belters — contestants adept at loud, clear, identifiably melodic yelling, with vibrato if possible.
“Simon also clearly has Spice Girls on the brain. … Simon is the one most likely to size up a contestant … and say, ’You just don’t look like the American Idol.’ Simon has forgotten, apparently, that last year’s ’American Idol’ finalists, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, didn’t look much like the American Idol, either. Or, anyway, he’s unwilling to accept that this was no accident.”
— Matt Feeney, writing on ” ’American Idol’ Chatter,” March 30 in Slate at www.slate.com
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