And Poland wishes to join the EU! If Polish voters and their leaders had any sense, they would stay as far away from that sinkhole as possible. Oddly enough, in Russia, the former bastion of atheism and communism (and the Poles’ former masters), there are the beginning signs of life, as with a plant poking its first delicate shoot through a crack in lconcrete pavement.

The result of a gay marrriage performed there last summer was 1) the orthodox priest who took the bribe to perform the blasphemous ceremony has been defrocked; 2) the chapel where the abomination took place has been burned to the ground because it was held to be defiled. I also read somewhere that Father Seraphim Rose is one of the most popular American writers, sacred or secular.

Evil as the EU is, one cannot blame it for all Europe’s ills. Norway, whence comes this barbarian filth, is not a member-state. HRS

Norway may not be part oif the EU, but it is hard to differentiate their cultural ills from those of the other Scandenavian countries in the EU.

My point (which I expressed poorly) was that religious Poles wouldn’t even be able to express their outrage at this barbarity if Poland were in the EU already. Poland escaped the Soviet yoke and now wants to put on the one being fashioned in Brussels.

Carl’s point is well-taken. The question is why, having suffered German and Soviet occupation, Poles cannot see the EU’s threat to Polishness. Of course, the most famous Pole of our day, Pope John Paul II, does not seem to see it either, his protests about the EU constitution’s declining to mention Christianity notwithstanding. HRS

But, as Henry Mancini asked, “Did They Mention the Music?” Here are some reviews— rave reviews:

“Holy macarony, this is a sick album! Incredibly brutal!” (Amazon.com)

“The vocals are perhaps the most blistering, viscious screeches ever to be put on a recording, the drum work is excellent…” (Amazon.com)

“Gorgoroth have cloaked their postmodern deconstructionism in the camp and ultrathespian theatricalism of the fears of the past, and donning the mantle of evildoer have merited the title through sheer destructiveness toward normal music.” (anus.com— that’s the American Nihilist Underground Society)

So much for the innocent Nordic bubblegum tradition of ABBA, a-ha and Roxette. Hard to believe only 10 years ago Ace of Base were shocked when American kids took their line “all that she wants is another baby” as literal. But this stuff traces to the UK, and ultimately to California. Blame us.

I write this with Luso-African selections playing on the MP3— from Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, etc. They’re soothing, melodic and very adult. If you wonder why the “world music” section at the CD store keeps growing, it has nothing to do with “diversity”. It’s because everything recorded in the English language today sucks big-time.

The “culture” of the black urban masses is triumphant. It’s what youngsters, adults, the media, and even the museum set aspire to. In Ameirca and abroad. In effect, we’re all negroes, now. It’s all a bit too shocking for someone whose interest in popular music stopped with Edith Piaf and Zarah Leander.

There is plenty of melanogenic rot in our so-called culture, all right, but laying death metal at the feet of blacks is a bit much. They leave the room as fast as we do when it comes on.

Metal is as far removed from the black roots of rock as anything today. It is anhedonic and anaphrodisiac, qualities not normally associated with “people of color”. There is more than a bit of Wagner’s influence in it, too.

Gorgoroth is a wholly white pathology.

Anyone interested in learning more about Norwegian “black metal” can find some info. here (warning, much profanity):

http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=9580