Ass-Kicker in Chief

In an interview with NBC, President Obama sets the record straight with respect to his administration’s much-criticized handling of the oil-spill crisis. Far from flailing in his response to the environmental disaster, Obama has been way ahead of the curve all along. As early as a month ago, he assures us, he was facing the elements down in the Gulf, gaining first-hand intelligence from local fishermen on “whose a** to kick.”

Read the rest at Commentary.

The Very Best of Albanian Music

Album Cover Such a rarity for music as esoteric as Albanian Pop to be universally enjoyable even by foreigners who have no idea what the lyrics mean. It’s now hard to fully recover just how isolated communist Albania was in those days. Big Brother was busy sanitizing almost every aspect of the culture, relentlessly screening out any hints of decadent bourgeois Western influence. Yet these songs clearly evoke sounds from the American music scene of the early 20th century. I have no idea how this amazing music managed to make it out to the public. “Naten Vone” is probably my favorite song. In fact, I recommend listening to the album backwards. Enjoy!

Vaçe Zela has a flawless voice! …And isn’t it eerie how she could be Halle Berry’s white twin in that album cover?