Bokelskere.no

Slik må biblioteket nettopp nå stille selvbevisst opp mot det uhåndgripelige. Det får sin tiltrekningskraft gjennom sine endeløse hyllerekker med bataljoner av bokrygger. På et begrenset område tilbyr det besøkerne et kosmos av posisjoner: Her står det reaksjonære side om side med det progressive, det uvanlige rygg mot rygg med det hverdagslige. Biblioteket er et tilfluktsted for flerstemtheten. I lyset fra den grønne lampeskjermen reiser man tryggere enn på ethvert sleipt surfebrett. Biblioteket er en avgangshall. Bøkene er flymaskiner med senket landgang. Venter tålmodig på sin eneste passasjer. På et eller annet tidspunkt vil han komme, gående langsmed hyllene en mørk vinterkveld vil han gripe tak i en tilfeldig bok. Da starter motoren og flyet letter.

Self-analysis is no substitute for those practical actions which are necessary for establishing the democratic institutions which alone can guarantee the freedom of critical thought, and the progress of science.

Each language betrays its speakers’ concerns and obsessions. The Inuit Eskimos, for example, famously have three hundred words for snow but only one for cocaine, while for North Americans these statistics are reversed.

“That’s the trouble with you innerleckchuls,” Onnie Jay muttered, “you don’t never have nothing to show for what you’re saying.”

He was not handsome but under his smile, there was an honest look that fitted into his face like a set of false teeth.

Well, I preach the Church Without Christ. I’m a member and preacher to that church where the blind don’t see and the lame don’t walk and what’s dead stays that way.

By contrast, Wahhabi scholars forbid musical instruments altogether. When the Saudi kingdom challenged the Ottoman Empire militarily and doctrinally in the nineteenth century, Muhammad Ali, the Governor of Egypt, reportedly took pleasure in "torturing" captured Wahhabis by forcing them to listen to music.

The culture of jihad is a culture of romance. It promises adventure and pretends that the codes of medieval heroism and chivalry are still relevant. All jihadi poets depict themselves as the protectors of women and children, particularly widows and orphans. Having renounced their nationalities and the community of most co-religionists, the militants must invent an identity of their own. And, indeed, jihadi politics is a type of identity politics - a demand for recognition and a performance of authenticity.

Barnedamen lytter. Tar hun det inn? Jeg kaver. Den er sunn, sier jeg nå. Det er viktig med antioksidanter, sier jeg. Og er ikke dette tullebukkens adelsmerke? Folk som snakker om ting de ikke har peiling på, snakker alltid om antioksidanter.

Hvis et obskurt navn nevnes rundt bord 13, blir den ellers så pratsomme Bratland stille. Så går han på do, mens Sellers og Raymond samtaler videre, og når Bratland kommer i retur fra toalettet, har han plutselig masse å slå i bordet med. Da har han sittet på dolokket og lusket på internett, han har lest seg opp. Et crowdsourcet geni dukker opp fra klosetten. Han bruker alltid internett for å dekke over sin groteske inkompetanse.

Many respondents specifically cited the works of Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens and indicated that these two writers had a momentous impact on their thinking.

In exposing themselves to critiques of Islam respondents were able to revisit classical Islamic sources with a new attitude of hermeneutic scepticism. For Nabilah, it was reading Hirsi Ali's writings which provoked her to think more critically about Islam, returning to the classical texts with her 'eyes open'.

Abstraksjoner ligger ikke for meg, jeg kjenner ingenting igjen, det hadde ingen hensikt. Det rant jo bare ut av meg. Det var fælt. Skrekken. Det var stygge år. Og så kom Per Inge Bjørlo, han reddet oss. Og Lars Vilks. Han er en utrolig fyr. Ekstremt omsorgsfull. Han kom som en eller annen prins og reddet oss. Den stygge prinsen. [Vanessa Baird]

Poststructuralism, that stale teething biscuit of the nattering nerds of trendy academe, cannot rival the dazzling analytic complexity of football.

Women’s studies programs were thrown together in the 1970s and 1980s without the most basic consideration of science. Sweeping generalizations about gender were made by humanists with little or no knowledge of endocrinology, genetics, anthropology, or social psychology. The anti-science bias of poststructuralism worsened matters, producing the repressed doublespeak of Foucault followers (such as the derivative and unlearned “queer theorist” Judith Butler), who substituted turgid wordplay for scientific inquiry.

The freedom to hate must be as protected as the freedom to love. It is only when hate crosses into action that the law may properly intervene.

Norman Cook once told me that when he heard 'Cowgirl' a penny dropped for him. For me it was Lou Reed's 'Last Great American Whale'.