Cartoon: Normel Person, 3/29/2017

“The notion that John Gotti — or any single mob figure — was some sort of omnipotent New York mafioso is ludicrous. The word 'Godfather' had a nice, Brando-­esque ring, but the title itself is a fraud”

“George Carlin is funny. Congenitally, genetically funny. He's got these harty-har-har chromosomes and genes. Carlin is TRANSLUCENTLY funny.”

The '80s “empowered” icky crustaceans like Rush Limbaugh, Dinesh D'Souza, Al­lan Bloom, and Mary Matalin... ruminating on family values, the evil lifestyle of homosexuals, the glories of war, the absolute sanctity of money, and the mot­to of Republicans the world over: Admit Nothing, Blame Everybody, Be Bitter.

The war in Northern Ireland is one of the longest-running and most intensive guerril­la insurgencies in the history of modern warfare. On one side, the forces of the Brit­ish union. On the other, the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Beyond them, a network of supporters 3000 miles away in the United States.

“Girl group records were based in the relationship of a young girl and an older man (white, until Berry Gordy) who put her on a pedestal and held her in thrall; out of that relationship came some of the most urgent and intense rock and roll ever made.”

“For nearly two weeks the Singer-Swapps — a family of fundamentalist Mormons — barricaded themselves in their cabin and, armed with an arsenal of handguns, ri­fles, and sawed-off shotguns, held off an army of county deputies and federal agents. On the 13th day, the standoff erupted into a gun battle that left one officer dead.”