Bob Dylan used a cheat sheet

(Photo: AP)

Bob Dylan recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature without ever having written a book. Now he is accused of lifting portions of he lecture from SparkNotes. 

The singer talked about three books he allegedly read and had the biggest impact on his life. One of these was Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." In fact, he quoted a passage from the novel--but it isn't actually from the novel. 

It's from the SparksNotes, a website that helps students use a shortcut on major works of literature and other topics when they don't want to read the full book.

Writer Ben Greenman initially called attention to the singer's lecture in his June 6 blog post that Dylan seemed to have invented a passage from "Moby Dick." He also discussed "The Odyssey," by Homer and "All Quiet on the Western Front," by Erich Maria Remarque.

Andrea Pitzer wrote a Slate article on Tuesday stating that Dylan's quote was not in "Moby Dick" but was clearly a line from the SparkNotes summary of the book.

Dylan said: "Some men who receive injuries are led to God, others are led to bitterness."

SparkNotes said: "someone whose trials have led him toward God rather than bitterness."

Pitzer and the Associated Press verified 20 additional sentences with traces and phrases from the "Moby Dick" SparkNotes.

At least there were no sentences that were verbatim from SparkNotes, but even a high school student is smart enough not to copy verbatim.

In the past, Dylan had been accused of pilfering lines from older artists for his songs, though his fans tend to dismiss it as the common borrowing of the folk-and-blues genre he drew his music from.

Dylan recorded the lecture in Los Angeles and gave it to the Swedish Academy, and they called it "extraordinary" and "eloquent" [I call it 'something borrowed, something blue'].

In order to collect the $922,000 in prize money, the lecture is required. 

You cannot tell the Nobel Committee "the dog ate my lecture."



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Bob Dylan called arrogant by Nobel committee guy

Copenhagen, Denmark -- One person, a member of the Swedish Academy, whose feelings were hurt when Bob Dylan did a "Bob Dylan" by not showing up for his 2016 Nobel Prize award in literature, called the American singer-songwriter "impolite and arrogant."

Per Wastberg (his friends call him "As Per") said that Dylan's lack of intense emotion and gratitude to the honor the academy bestowed upon him last week was disrespectful, but alas, he did a "Bob Dylan" thus it was predictable. 

Nevertheless, As Per was saddened by the 'dis.'

"One can say that it is impolite and arrogant. He is who he is," As Per was quoted as sadly whimpering to a Swedish newspaper journalist at Dagens Nyheter. But he was hopeful to communicate with Bob, whose is credited with creating "new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

Yes, but is it literature? 

Did phony Al Gore deserve a Nobel Prize for getting global warming wrong?

Was Yassar Arafat really a peaceful guy in spite of being responsible for killing Israelis at the Munich Olympics?

And this Alfred Nobel . . . wasn't his only claim to fame inventing dynamite and blowing stuff up?



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Clinton's Dept. of State got "prestigious" awards--so did Al Gore

When Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State and using an unauthorized, personal email server located in a Colorado bathroom, and failing to properly log entries into the official calendar she kept as secretary of state, her department received not one, but two "prestigious" awards for its record-keeping practices. 

No, this is not an Onion article--I'm serious.

The Associated Press review of her official calendar identified no less than 75 meetings with longtime donors, loyalists,  contributors to the Clinton Foundation and corporate as well as other outside interests that were listed without naming those folks with whom she met. 

How surprising. That isn't like the Clintons--they're even more transparent than Barack Hussein Obama.

The missing entries bring into question about how Hillary and her inner coven handled government records while she was Secretary of State, and who in their right mind presented the State Department with "prestigious" awards for record-keeping. That's like giving Al Gore the Nobel Prize--oh, wait. Okay, at least it wasn't for "Science."

Could it be that with the current FBI criminal investigation--not security review--the omissions mean that she did indeed seek to eliminate the "risk of the personal being accessible" as she wrote in one of her emails that she failed to turn over to the Obama administration but was later uncovered in a top aide's inbox? Could that top aide have been Huma Abedin, wife of Anthony Weiner, daughter of a mother in the Muslim Sisterhood?

It may take another 75 years to find those missing emails.

While the missing entries on the calendar does not violate any laws, the reason may be simply due to Ms. Clinton dodging gunfire or questions about her accomplishments.

In any case, I'm sure that Hillary Clinton's State Department deserves a "prestigious" award as much as Al Gore deserved his.


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Kerry "Surprised" by Palestinian violence: I told you he was stupid

According to Fox News, Secretary of State John Kerry has called for an end to "senseless" violence in Israel and rejects an international presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as anti-Semitic tensions escalate.

However, Kerry and the Obama administration never use the term "anti-Semitic" because to do so would be Islamophobic.

For Kerry to call the violence senseless merely shows that he has no common sense or understanding of why these Palestinian attackers are killing Jews [unless, of course, he actually understands but is being directed by the Obama administration to employ moral equivalency regarding the violence.]

First of all, the Palestinians are constantly fed a diet of anti-Semitism; it's how they're brought up from the moment they open their eyes. The children's TV programs depict Jews as evil and dangerous, using the blood of children to add to their holiday matzohs. Their parents encourage anti-Semitic thought because it's the patriotic thing to do. 

Muslim kids rarely meet actual Jews, but the early impressions are powerful.

Second, the heroes of the Muslim mindset are not sports figures nor television personalities, nor are they Nobel Prize winners because there are a disproportionate number of Jews on the list. No, the heroes of the Muslim mindset, particularly for Palestinians, are the martyrs, the jihadists, especially those who have killed a Jew.

They even name streets and town squares after Muslim martyrs who have killed for Allah. Not surprisingly, many of these streets are named Mohammad Something-or-Other.

Third, they have been fed propaganda. They're told by their leaders, for example, that the Jews plan to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Jews executed the 13-year-old boy who killed an Israeli boy his age. 

This turned out to be balderdash of the highest order and proved false when the kid was shown on Israeli TV in bed at the hospital where he was being treated.

Finally, the Koran [Mohammad's ripoff of the Old Testament and written to suit a militant agenda] is filled with anti-Semitic, anti-Christian claptrap that depicts Jews and Christians as apes and pigs, and prescribing horrible deeds to be done to us. They also have a lot of bad things to say about other infidels.

Kerry told reporters at a Madrid news conference that "We don't contemplate any change, but nor does Israel. Israel understands the importance of that status quo. What is important is to make sure everybody understands what that means. We are not seeking some new change. We are not seeking outsiders or others to come in."

France, the home of the attack where Charlie Hebdo cartoonists were murdered by Muslims for printing an unflattering caricature of Mohammad, has called for action at the UN for an international presence to ensure the status quo at the Temple Mount, the hilltop compound revered by Jews and home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine and national symbol for Palestinians, where Jews can visit but cannot pray.

In addition to the U.S. and Israel being against an international presence in this area, Jordan also agrees.

Kerry will be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu this week to discuss the situation regarding the Temple Mount, and wants to make clear to PA scumcrumpet, Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah what the plans will be in respect to this situation.

Meanwhile, the violence continues in Israel as  21-year-old Mohannad al-Okbi, an Arab citizen from Hura, a Bedouin town in southern Israel was armed with a gun and knife and began shooting in a southern Israeli bus station. He killed an Israeli soldier and wounded 10 others before he was shot and sent to his 72 virgins.

One of al-Okbi's relatives was arrested on suspicion of assisting him in the cowardly attack. Al-Okbi has no past record of jihadist involvement, which means his mosque is not being monitored.

Unfortunately, an Eritrean migrant was also killed in the attack by Israeli security who, in the heat of the battle, thought he was an assailant. 

You can be that the mainstream media will have a field day with that event.




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