Olbermann takes the appeaser/Chamberlain claim the right wing have been throwing around for, well, years at us, and really works through it.
Erudite in the extreme. Incredible, just incredible.
Take that, Rummy.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Whistleblower
Good for you, man. This is, well, kinda important.
via Huffington Post.
UPDATE: Reward for a job "well done".
via Huffington Post.
UPDATE: Reward for a job "well done".
Katrina: 1 YEAR.
Audacity? You be the judge:
"When he visited Betsy's Pancake House on a tour of New Orleans, one of the waitresses asked him: 'Mr President, are you going to turn your back on me?'
'No ma'am, not again', the president promised. People in the restaurant laughed but many of the city's residents, particularly black people, believe they were abandoned when Katrina struck."
The insinuation is that they were abandoned. They were abandoned.
While watching Spike Lee's excellent When The Levees Broke (which I encourage everyone to see), I was struck by Al Sharpton's criticism of the media referring to the victims as "refugees", arguing that refugees are "people with out countries, and these people are Americans."
I certainly appreciate Sharpton's point, and I feel he did the right thing by reminding the media and the government that they are Americans.
It is possible, however, to take another view of this: Maybe in Bush's "America", the dispossessed poor in New Orleans are refugees. Maybe alot of us are: It sure doesn't feel like my country much.
Anyway, in their inimitable way, the godly folks at WhiteHouse.org, read between the lines.
"When he visited Betsy's Pancake House on a tour of New Orleans, one of the waitresses asked him: 'Mr President, are you going to turn your back on me?'
'No ma'am, not again', the president promised. People in the restaurant laughed but many of the city's residents, particularly black people, believe they were abandoned when Katrina struck."
The insinuation is that they were abandoned. They were abandoned.
While watching Spike Lee's excellent When The Levees Broke (which I encourage everyone to see), I was struck by Al Sharpton's criticism of the media referring to the victims as "refugees", arguing that refugees are "people with out countries, and these people are Americans."
I certainly appreciate Sharpton's point, and I feel he did the right thing by reminding the media and the government that they are Americans.
It is possible, however, to take another view of this: Maybe in Bush's "America", the dispossessed poor in New Orleans are refugees. Maybe alot of us are: It sure doesn't feel like my country much.
Anyway, in their inimitable way, the godly folks at WhiteHouse.org, read between the lines.
Re: When You Wish Upon the Pinhole in the Sackcloth which Shields Heaven from Our Sight/ Post Science
"God is Dead. Nietzsche is Dead. Now this."
Nietzsche may be dead, and many in the Post Modern theory business have used Nietzsche and his progeny to assert the slipperiness of ontology beyond what we experience, to the point that many NeoCons and Religious Right Wingers have started to ape the post modernist moves in their critique of the verifiable objective. This is a colossal misreading.
Consider this passage from Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Rudinger Safranski:
" 'Scientific Methods', Nietzche wrote in a fragment of 1877, 'relieve the world of a great pathos; they show how pointless it was for man to have worked his way into this height of feeling'. Although the sciences are also constrained by perspectives, they can be elevated above them. They broaden our outlook and enable us to see our own position in relation to the whole, not because science more closely approximates absolute truth, but for precisely the opposite reason-namely that passion, owing to its vigorous focus, posits itself as an absolute and admits of no alteration beyond that focus. Science, however, by dint of its methodical distance, keeps us aware of the relativity of knowledge [...]" (202).
Nietzsche may be dead, and many in the Post Modern theory business have used Nietzsche and his progeny to assert the slipperiness of ontology beyond what we experience, to the point that many NeoCons and Religious Right Wingers have started to ape the post modernist moves in their critique of the verifiable objective. This is a colossal misreading.
Consider this passage from Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Rudinger Safranski:
" 'Scientific Methods', Nietzche wrote in a fragment of 1877, 'relieve the world of a great pathos; they show how pointless it was for man to have worked his way into this height of feeling'. Although the sciences are also constrained by perspectives, they can be elevated above them. They broaden our outlook and enable us to see our own position in relation to the whole, not because science more closely approximates absolute truth, but for precisely the opposite reason-namely that passion, owing to its vigorous focus, posits itself as an absolute and admits of no alteration beyond that focus. Science, however, by dint of its methodical distance, keeps us aware of the relativity of knowledge [...]" (202).
"The Hare Krishnas are the six largest army...and they already have our airports".
Via Covington: Talking Points Memo on Iran.
It seems to me that the sane thing to do here is work the diplomacy, see if we can hammer out an agreement to get UN inspectors in there. If Iran is working on peaceful nuclear energy, then fine, have at it.
Actually, the sanest thing to do is unilaterally ban all nuclear weapons, beginning immediately. I thought that's what the Cold War was all about...
It seems to me that the sane thing to do here is work the diplomacy, see if we can hammer out an agreement to get UN inspectors in there. If Iran is working on peaceful nuclear energy, then fine, have at it.
Actually, the sanest thing to do is unilaterally ban all nuclear weapons, beginning immediately. I thought that's what the Cold War was all about...
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The Exorcist
Stalin and Hitler: Pawns of Satan?
"'I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.
You can tell by their behaviour and their actions, from the horrors they committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders. That's why we need to defend society from demons.
According to secret Vatican documents recently released wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII attempted a 'long distance' exorcism of Hitler which failed to have any effect."
This raises a couple of questions...
1. If the Nazi's were all possessed, that means that Benedict XVI, then Ratzinger and a Hitler Youth, was also possessed by Satan. Of course, he denies being a Nazi, which is kind of like Clinton claiming he didn't inhale.
2. Pius XII attempted a long distance exorcism of Hitler? At very least, it would seem he did very little concerning Hitler, aside from making sure the Vatican didn't get plundered by fascists.
Well, at least we can rest assured that one thing is absolutely true:
"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."
Don't forget about Led Zeppelin...
"'I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.
You can tell by their behaviour and their actions, from the horrors they committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders. That's why we need to defend society from demons.
According to secret Vatican documents recently released wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII attempted a 'long distance' exorcism of Hitler which failed to have any effect."
This raises a couple of questions...
1. If the Nazi's were all possessed, that means that Benedict XVI, then Ratzinger and a Hitler Youth, was also possessed by Satan. Of course, he denies being a Nazi, which is kind of like Clinton claiming he didn't inhale.
2. Pius XII attempted a long distance exorcism of Hitler? At very least, it would seem he did very little concerning Hitler, aside from making sure the Vatican didn't get plundered by fascists.
Well, at least we can rest assured that one thing is absolutely true:
"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."
Don't forget about Led Zeppelin...
Sunday, August 27, 2006
The Big Moment!!!!!
Tonight will probably be the most anticipated, nationally televised NFL preseason game ever, and the Wizard and I will be there.
Carson Palmer will start for the Cincinnati Bengals for the first time since major knee surgery in January. The Bengals will be taking on the Green Bay Packers on ESPN's Monday Night Football from Paul Brown Stadium.
The joint will be rocking and electric for the introductions, and pregame fun. It is proper edicate to hush hush while the home team offence is taking the snap, but when Carson Palmer lines up under center to take the first snap, I am very sure you may be able to hear a fucking pin drop in Paul Brown Stadium this evening.
Carson Palmer will start for the Cincinnati Bengals for the first time since major knee surgery in January. The Bengals will be taking on the Green Bay Packers on ESPN's Monday Night Football from Paul Brown Stadium.
The joint will be rocking and electric for the introductions, and pregame fun. It is proper edicate to hush hush while the home team offence is taking the snap, but when Carson Palmer lines up under center to take the first snap, I am very sure you may be able to hear a fucking pin drop in Paul Brown Stadium this evening.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Bill Maher on science
“Scientists” Have Decided to Cut and Run on Pluto
"Goddamit. Why hasn't somebody introduced The Defense of Planets Act to protect the santity of planethood by defining it solely as the relationship between the Sun and Uranus?"
"Goddamit. Why hasn't somebody introduced The Defense of Planets Act to protect the santity of planethood by defining it solely as the relationship between the Sun and Uranus?"
Hitchens is a smug prick
I was quite happy to see Bill Maher return, but what the hell is with Christopher Hitchens? He seems to be jockeying for the position of a fatter, drunker William F. Buckley. I mean, he actualy flipped off the audience. Must be friends with Novak.
When You Wish Upon the Pinhole in the Sackcloth which Shields Heaven from Our Sight...
God is Dead. Nietzsche is Dead. Now this:
"Not too long ago the blogosphere was rocking with the great debate of Intelligent Design vs Darwinism. It was an interesting debate, though I doubt much that anyone had the mind changed. Be that as it may, the whole thing got me thinking, and today ii (sic) occured to me: science is dead. We have reached the end of the Age of Science - what will come after, I don't know, but I don't think that we'll ever again have a time when Science is enshrined as some sort of god-like arbiter of right and wrong. The question now: what killed science?
A lot of different factors - but the main thing was that science could only thrive as it did from about 1650 until 1850 when everyone agreed on the rules. The prime rule of science was truth - everyone involved in science had to tell the truth to the best of their ability, and always be willing to correct one's views when new evidence called in to question previously held beliefs. What killed science was when its strongest advocates stopped telling the truth.
It was, after all, science and its enthusiasts which fell for the Piltdown Man, Haekel's embryos, eugenics, Population Bomb, ALAR, etc, etc, etc. So many bogus theories, dressed up as science, and greeted by the believers in science as the be-all and end-all of existence. After a while, it was bound to errode the foundations of science - and now it has. Science is now so intertwined with myth and political gamesmanship that whatever judgements are pronounced under the cover of science are immediately suspect - everyone who hears such things wonders when some future science will completely refute what is held as rock-solid science today.
Why did science stray from the path of truth? I think it is because we ceased educating the men of science with a knowledge of religion - a knowledge, that is, of genuine truth, genuine reason, and the relationship of man to creation, and his Creator. When science became a narrowly forcused search for something immediately practical, it was bound to eventually be hijacked by people who wanted to use the cover of science for very impractical efforts. Keep in mind that communism, once upon a time, was considered irrefutable because it was supposedly hard-nosed science about the human condition and destiny - the crackpot theories of an out of touch German intellectual were peddled as if they were on par with the theory of gravity.
The truth will out - and that means that the quest for the truth will continue, and that will mean that efforts in science will continue to yield results...but the Age of Science is over, killed off by lies. I don't regret its passing - hopefully we will soon start to really educate people, so that even as they pursue science, they keep it in perspective, and in relation to the real human condition."
It would seem that we are entering a Post Science/Post Reason era. By implication, I suppose we need to respect, nay, exalt Flat Earthers, Holocaust Deniers and folks who think the Moon Landing took place in Nevada.
It's interesting to me that we have entered a millenial malaise in which feelings and belief, however ridiculous, are more important that verifiable theory vis a vis phenomenon. This seems to be a weird offshoot of Post Modernism, or rather its logical conclusion. It seems bizarre that the kind of theoretical work which yielded the variable sign, difference, etc. has become an excuse to deny the undeniable.
America was made with science and innovation: We owe everything to it. So it makes me shudder with dread that so many are now denying it, declaring it dead?
Our failure to innovate has created chaos in our manufacturing sector and our educational institutions. As a corollary, we now held hostage by an anti intellectual auto de fay, wringing confessions out of the apostates who dare to think science is the future because we owe everything to it. I mean, as I light another Camel, a primitive science made it possible for us to tame fire, which made it possible to grow crops and build cities, which made it possible...down the line, to blog.
If there is any humor in this, I suppose it would be the supremacy of feelings. There was a time when "feelings" were for pussy, tree hugging leftists like myself. Now, we are captives to "feelings", the "feelings of others", who, while proclaiming the subjectivity of everything seek to make their "feelings" objective reality.
Hincty, no?
"Not too long ago the blogosphere was rocking with the great debate of Intelligent Design vs Darwinism. It was an interesting debate, though I doubt much that anyone had the mind changed. Be that as it may, the whole thing got me thinking, and today ii (sic) occured to me: science is dead. We have reached the end of the Age of Science - what will come after, I don't know, but I don't think that we'll ever again have a time when Science is enshrined as some sort of god-like arbiter of right and wrong. The question now: what killed science?
A lot of different factors - but the main thing was that science could only thrive as it did from about 1650 until 1850 when everyone agreed on the rules. The prime rule of science was truth - everyone involved in science had to tell the truth to the best of their ability, and always be willing to correct one's views when new evidence called in to question previously held beliefs. What killed science was when its strongest advocates stopped telling the truth.
It was, after all, science and its enthusiasts which fell for the Piltdown Man, Haekel's embryos, eugenics, Population Bomb, ALAR, etc, etc, etc. So many bogus theories, dressed up as science, and greeted by the believers in science as the be-all and end-all of existence. After a while, it was bound to errode the foundations of science - and now it has. Science is now so intertwined with myth and political gamesmanship that whatever judgements are pronounced under the cover of science are immediately suspect - everyone who hears such things wonders when some future science will completely refute what is held as rock-solid science today.
Why did science stray from the path of truth? I think it is because we ceased educating the men of science with a knowledge of religion - a knowledge, that is, of genuine truth, genuine reason, and the relationship of man to creation, and his Creator. When science became a narrowly forcused search for something immediately practical, it was bound to eventually be hijacked by people who wanted to use the cover of science for very impractical efforts. Keep in mind that communism, once upon a time, was considered irrefutable because it was supposedly hard-nosed science about the human condition and destiny - the crackpot theories of an out of touch German intellectual were peddled as if they were on par with the theory of gravity.
The truth will out - and that means that the quest for the truth will continue, and that will mean that efforts in science will continue to yield results...but the Age of Science is over, killed off by lies. I don't regret its passing - hopefully we will soon start to really educate people, so that even as they pursue science, they keep it in perspective, and in relation to the real human condition."
It would seem that we are entering a Post Science/Post Reason era. By implication, I suppose we need to respect, nay, exalt Flat Earthers, Holocaust Deniers and folks who think the Moon Landing took place in Nevada.
It's interesting to me that we have entered a millenial malaise in which feelings and belief, however ridiculous, are more important that verifiable theory vis a vis phenomenon. This seems to be a weird offshoot of Post Modernism, or rather its logical conclusion. It seems bizarre that the kind of theoretical work which yielded the variable sign, difference, etc. has become an excuse to deny the undeniable.
America was made with science and innovation: We owe everything to it. So it makes me shudder with dread that so many are now denying it, declaring it dead?
Our failure to innovate has created chaos in our manufacturing sector and our educational institutions. As a corollary, we now held hostage by an anti intellectual auto de fay, wringing confessions out of the apostates who dare to think science is the future because we owe everything to it. I mean, as I light another Camel, a primitive science made it possible for us to tame fire, which made it possible to grow crops and build cities, which made it possible...down the line, to blog.
If there is any humor in this, I suppose it would be the supremacy of feelings. There was a time when "feelings" were for pussy, tree hugging leftists like myself. Now, we are captives to "feelings", the "feelings of others", who, while proclaiming the subjectivity of everything seek to make their "feelings" objective reality.
Hincty, no?
Friday, August 25, 2006
Activist Judges: Slight Return
Arrrgggghhhh:
"Although he could have long ago spared himself and Kentucky a lot of grief, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's decision to negotiate an end to the merit-hiring scandal is welcome news.
The deal, which dismisses three misdemeanor charges against the governor, is far from forthright. In it, Fletcher finally takes responsibility for his administration's effort to replace Democrats in rank-and-file state jobs, but he still insists he personally has 'been cleared of all charges'."
"Although he could have long ago spared himself and Kentucky a lot of grief, Gov. Ernie Fletcher's decision to negotiate an end to the merit-hiring scandal is welcome news.
The deal, which dismisses three misdemeanor charges against the governor, is far from forthright. In it, Fletcher finally takes responsibility for his administration's effort to replace Democrats in rank-and-file state jobs, but he still insists he personally has 'been cleared of all charges'."
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Schmidt a liar and cheat? No way.
She's accused of faking the above photo which shows her finishing the 1993 Columbus Marathon in a respectable 3 hours, 19 minutes, 6 seconds, and which is posted on her official website. A four-member state election commission panel ruled today that there was enough evidence to look into the complaint.
The AP story notes that "[i]n April, (Schmidt) received a public reprimand from the Ohio Elections Commission for claiming on her Web site that she had two college degrees when she had only one."
Kos tour stop in Cincinnati
Markos Moulitsas, founder of Daily KOS, will speak at University of Cincinnati on September 28. It's part of a campus tour to promote Crashing the Gate that also stops in Bloomington, Pittsburgh and Ann Arbor.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
The High Cost of Education
Does this sound like things are going well:
"The Marine Corps will soon begin ordering thousands of its troops back to active duty because of a shortage of volunteers for Iraq and Afghanistan _ the first involuntary recall since the early days of the war."?
"The Marine Corps will soon begin ordering thousands of its troops back to active duty because of a shortage of volunteers for Iraq and Afghanistan _ the first involuntary recall since the early days of the war."?
Monday, August 21, 2006
A Smoking Wreck in Beirut
I'm just finishing Kitchen Confidential, a must read for any H.S.T. fan, food lover, restaurant worker, bon vivant (I'm refering to drink and drugs here), or anybody just looking for an entertaining as hell read. Bourdain is an insightful traveller and storyteller, which is why I'm looking forward to tonight's episode of No Reservations.
Why McCain shouldn't win
I'm not confident enough, given the shenanigans of the last two elections, to say he won't win, but...
“'There may be other candidates who are more logical stewards of the Bush legacy than McCain, but none of them is going to get elected president in 2008', said Mr. Schnur, who added that he did not expect to be involved in any McCain campaign. 'McCain may stray from the Bush line more than other candidates in the field, but none of them is going to be in a position in 2009 to do anything about it'.”
Problem is, he doesn't stray far enough. For a man that got swift-boated by these fucking neocon jackals, he seems to be doing enough asskissing to ensure his nomination. This is man who once derided the Christian Right as divisive and ran on his ethics, and now, can't get enough.
Mr. McCain, take the hint: These policies are a disaster, and the people you are now actively courting are the harbringers of death for this Constitutional Democracy, for which you sacrificed so much. Why are you dishonoring yourself and your Constitution. Does your ego suffer that much?
“'There may be other candidates who are more logical stewards of the Bush legacy than McCain, but none of them is going to get elected president in 2008', said Mr. Schnur, who added that he did not expect to be involved in any McCain campaign. 'McCain may stray from the Bush line more than other candidates in the field, but none of them is going to be in a position in 2009 to do anything about it'.”
Problem is, he doesn't stray far enough. For a man that got swift-boated by these fucking neocon jackals, he seems to be doing enough asskissing to ensure his nomination. This is man who once derided the Christian Right as divisive and ran on his ethics, and now, can't get enough.
Mr. McCain, take the hint: These policies are a disaster, and the people you are now actively courting are the harbringers of death for this Constitutional Democracy, for which you sacrificed so much. Why are you dishonoring yourself and your Constitution. Does your ego suffer that much?
Sunday, August 20, 2006
I'll check this out
From the Chicago Tribune:
"At approximately four hours, Spike Lee's documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts unfolds on an operatic scale (it airs on HBO in two parts, at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and various dates thereafter). Through often disturbing video footage and searing witness observations, the tale -- worthy of Verdi -- offers plenty of victims, a few heroes, a cast of villains but, alas, no saviors."
"At approximately four hours, Spike Lee's documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts unfolds on an operatic scale (it airs on HBO in two parts, at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and various dates thereafter). Through often disturbing video footage and searing witness observations, the tale -- worthy of Verdi -- offers plenty of victims, a few heroes, a cast of villains but, alas, no saviors."
Friday, August 18, 2006
Naturally...
Never let it be said that something like rule of law ever gets in the way of BushCo's road to dictatorship:
"Republicans attacked the decision. 'It is disappointing that a judge would take it upon herself to disarm America during a time of war', said Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee."
"Republicans attacked the decision. 'It is disappointing that a judge would take it upon herself to disarm America during a time of war', said Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee."
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
...and Special Trains, in the middle of the night, too!
Katie G tells us that a couple of dick weeds on Fox (shocking) are debating "Muslim Only" lines at the airport.
Yeah...that's the problem. We need more lines. We need to parse people up more...
Yeah...that's the problem. We need more lines. We need to parse people up more...
New York Dolls
I love the Dolls, and have been a fan for fifteen plus years. I love their band of dirty ass rock n roll cum girl group, like the Ronettes and the Faces had a lovechild.
The story of Dolls is somewhat well documented, so I'm not going to rehash it here.
When I heard the Dolls had a new cd out, I approached with a little trepidation, waiting to be disappointed almost.
While I was awaiting the Bachelor debauch of last week to begin, I was searching You Tube and found the video for "Dance Like a Monkey" from the new record. I was amazed to find overt and extremely clever satire of the evolution debate, with David Johanssen trying to pick up and undoubtedly corrupt a nubile Creationist over a Bo Diddley beat. I loved it...Brilliant. Hell yes! Rock and Roll lives. I walked up the street and bought it immediately.
Since then, this insanely catchy tune hasn't left my head, or my stereo, for that matter. I recommend it highly, and plan on using it as the theme music for The Wizard and Friends Inherit the Wind field trip to the Creation Museum.
Stranger
Covington passed this on to us yesterday, and the title says is all:
"Stranger and Stranger: Why is George Bush reading Camus?"
I can hardly believe it myself. Is it possible that Bush is embracing the humanities? Why is Bush reading one of my favorite books? What could be next: Rove curling up with Artaud's Theater and Its Double (That, actually, is the scariest thing I can conceive of)?
Dickinson posits the idea that Bush thinks of himself as Meursault, the overbored protagonist who shoots an Arab for kicks, and the fact that Tony Snow is tutoring Bush on the history of Existentialism makes me wonder what kind of lesson Bush takes away from the book, and the philosophy behind it.
No doubt that a misreading of existentialism creates boorish, self involved nitwits: Find any hipster with two semesters of philosophy and a shitty attitude if you don't believe me, or a histrionically angsty teenager in all black (I should know). If Existentialism is all about Death and Freedom, then the above are existentialists, no?
No. This is a classic misreading, one that stretches from moody undergrads to their cranky philosophy professors. Existentialism is about the struggle against death, the acceptance of this as one of the immutable truths, and then...GETTING ON WITH LIFE. People who think that existentialism is a death trip are not existentialists, for they fetishize death as the end in and of itself. We call these folks Nihilists, or Christian Conservatives.
The other misreading is that of Freedom. A lot of folks misinterpret this as an Existential Absolute, meaning that one can absolutely do what ever one wants whenever one wants: In short, be a self involved twit. While this may be desirous on a superficial level, such a superficial understanding of Existential Freedom, like Nietzsche's "Will to Power", can have disasterous consequences (see Heidegger and National Socialism).
While Freedom is the end in Existentialism, it is, as the bumper sticker says "not free" in that their is a responsibility in that freedom to always treat other human beings as ends in themselves and not means to an end, and part of that is the liberation of others, because extending freedom makes you more free. On the surface, this might resonate with the neoconservatives, for they would say that this is exactly what the Bush Doctrine is, and while the Bush Doctrine might say this doesn't make it so. Saying it and not making good on it makes one no more than a Mercenary who uses all available means to advance their personal agenda, including such platitudes, to flee from the responsibilities of freedom. In this way, freedom is "not free", but it is cheap, like the quaint saying over the gate of famous work camp "Arbeit Macht Frei".
I would recommend, if you're looking for something a bit more overtly moral, trying on Camus's Resistance, Rebellion and Death or The Myth of Sisyphus. As Bill Cosby used to say at the outset of Fat Albert "Hey hey hey"...
er...I mean..."You might just learn somethin'".
"Stranger and Stranger: Why is George Bush reading Camus?"
I can hardly believe it myself. Is it possible that Bush is embracing the humanities? Why is Bush reading one of my favorite books? What could be next: Rove curling up with Artaud's Theater and Its Double (That, actually, is the scariest thing I can conceive of)?
Dickinson posits the idea that Bush thinks of himself as Meursault, the overbored protagonist who shoots an Arab for kicks, and the fact that Tony Snow is tutoring Bush on the history of Existentialism makes me wonder what kind of lesson Bush takes away from the book, and the philosophy behind it.
No doubt that a misreading of existentialism creates boorish, self involved nitwits: Find any hipster with two semesters of philosophy and a shitty attitude if you don't believe me, or a histrionically angsty teenager in all black (I should know). If Existentialism is all about Death and Freedom, then the above are existentialists, no?
No. This is a classic misreading, one that stretches from moody undergrads to their cranky philosophy professors. Existentialism is about the struggle against death, the acceptance of this as one of the immutable truths, and then...GETTING ON WITH LIFE. People who think that existentialism is a death trip are not existentialists, for they fetishize death as the end in and of itself. We call these folks Nihilists, or Christian Conservatives.
The other misreading is that of Freedom. A lot of folks misinterpret this as an Existential Absolute, meaning that one can absolutely do what ever one wants whenever one wants: In short, be a self involved twit. While this may be desirous on a superficial level, such a superficial understanding of Existential Freedom, like Nietzsche's "Will to Power", can have disasterous consequences (see Heidegger and National Socialism).
While Freedom is the end in Existentialism, it is, as the bumper sticker says "not free" in that their is a responsibility in that freedom to always treat other human beings as ends in themselves and not means to an end, and part of that is the liberation of others, because extending freedom makes you more free. On the surface, this might resonate with the neoconservatives, for they would say that this is exactly what the Bush Doctrine is, and while the Bush Doctrine might say this doesn't make it so. Saying it and not making good on it makes one no more than a Mercenary who uses all available means to advance their personal agenda, including such platitudes, to flee from the responsibilities of freedom. In this way, freedom is "not free", but it is cheap, like the quaint saying over the gate of famous work camp "Arbeit Macht Frei".
I would recommend, if you're looking for something a bit more overtly moral, trying on Camus's Resistance, Rebellion and Death or The Myth of Sisyphus. As Bill Cosby used to say at the outset of Fat Albert "Hey hey hey"...
er...I mean..."You might just learn somethin'".
Monday, August 14, 2006
Reach out and Jerk me off.
The Cincinnati Bengals have implimented this thing called the Jerk Line this season. This is a phone number you can call if you are at the Paul Brown Stadium for the game, and there is somebody around you acting a fool.
This is obviously designed for folks who bring their young kids to the game, and are offended by the drunken behavior of some people.
This Jerk line got it's first test run last night for the Bengals first preseason game against the Redskins. The line got about 100 calls about anything and everything, including some calls complaining about what jerks the Shitsburg Steelers are. You call this line, and an officer shows up at the seat of the suspected convict.
This fucking thing is not going to work. It is a football game, and you are going to have that. There is no reason to be bringing a kid under the age of 13 or 14 to a NFL football game. My dad brought me to my first football game when I was 15 years old, and he made a point to tell me that there would probably be some loud language that would be harsh. That is just the way it is.
I just talked to a friend of mine who was down at the game last night. She told the story of a couple of fans that were a few rows in front of them wearing Browns Jersey's, and cheering for the Bengals every good play that they made. No problem. Then a guy close by came over and said to the two guys, "What the hell are you guys doing here in those Jersey's and rooting for the Bengals?" Just a little fun razing. .....still no problem. Then moments later, to cops came up and arrested the guy and took him away. After this went down, everybody in thier section was talking about the Jerk line, and nobody was standing up cheering anymore in fear of being arrested.
That is fucking bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This damn thing is not going to work, but just to make sure, I think for the next game folks should flood this line as much as possible with complaints about how the Steelers are such cheap shot mother fuckers, and they should all be arrested because they made thier kids cry last year.
If you would like to go to a family friendly sporting event, take your kids to one of the 81 home games that baseball teams play each year. Don't take them to one of 8 home games that an NFL teams play each year, and then bitch about it.
This is just one man's take on this, so take it for what it is.
GOP: The Big Tent
So big that Bush might not back the Republican challenger in Connecticuit? Wonder why anyone would get the idea that Lieberman was a NeoCon in sheeps clothing.
The National Guard?
Evidentally, Bush has decided that he needs the National Guard to act directly on his orders, like his own private army. War Prof at Kos has more...
Folks...is this what you signed on for? Are you defending your communities and the Constitution by acting as muscle for this asshole?
Folks...is this what you signed on for? Are you defending your communities and the Constitution by acting as muscle for this asshole?
Neville Chamberlain
Anytime anybody mentions a different way of dealing with terrorists, the inevitable "Neville Chamberlain" canard comes wiggling out the neocon mouth or keyboard like some all powerful argument-deterrent.
I, however, tend to disagree with these folks, and agree with our pal DarkSyde on this terror handwringing chicken little (hawk) wing of the GOP.
As Covington notes, the real danger at this point in time is not Jihadists in the Islamic sense but the Cryptofascists in our halls of power: "Frankly, I find the dismantling of the Constitution an actual threat to our nations survival, as opposed to the relatively minor threat of the cave-shitters."
I, however, tend to disagree with these folks, and agree with our pal DarkSyde on this terror handwringing chicken little (hawk) wing of the GOP.
As Covington notes, the real danger at this point in time is not Jihadists in the Islamic sense but the Cryptofascists in our halls of power: "Frankly, I find the dismantling of the Constitution an actual threat to our nations survival, as opposed to the relatively minor threat of the cave-shitters."
Friday, August 11, 2006
Funeral for a Friend
Aunt Viv,
yer suffering over
now you sleep in light
forever
with my mother
sisters in the Son
" FAREWELL
Autumn already!... But why regret the everlasting sun, if we are sworn to a search for divine brightness-- far from those who die as seasons turn....
Autumn. Our boat, risen out of a hanging fog, turns toward poverty's harbor, the monstrous city, its sky stained with fire and mud. Ah! Those stinking rags, bread soaked with rain, drunkenness, and the thousands of loves who nailed me to the cross! Will there never, ever be an end to that ghoulish queen of a million dead souls and bodies and who will all be judged!, I can see myself again, my skin corroded by dirt and disease, hair and armpits crawling with worms, and worms still larger crawling in my heart, stretched out among ageless, heartless, unknown figures.... I could easily have died there.... What a horrible memory! I detest poverty.
And I dread winter because it's so cozy!
--Sometimes in the sky I see endless sandy shores covered with white rejoicing nations. A great golden ship, above me, flutters many-colored pennants in the morning breeze. I was the creator of every feast, every triumph, every drama. I tried to invent new flowers, new planets, new flesh, new languages. I thought I had acquired supernatural powers. Ha! I have to bury my imagination and my memories! What an end to a splendid career as an artist and storyteller!
I! I called myself a magician, an angel, free from all moral constraint.... I am sent back to the soil to seek some obligation, to wrap gnarled reality in my arms. A peasant!
Am I deceived? Would Charity be the sister of death, for me?
Well, I shall ask forgiveness for having lived on lies. And that's that.
But not one friendly hand... and where can I look for help?
True; the new era is nothing if not harsh.
For I can say that I have gained a victory; the gnashing of teeth, the hissing of hellfire, the stinking sighs subside. All my monstrous memories are fading. My last longings depart-- jealousy of beggars, bandits, friends of death, all those that the world passed by-- Damned souls, if I were to take vengance!
One must be absolutely modern.
Never mind hymns of thanksgiving: hold on to a step once taken. A hard night! Dried blood smokes on my face, and nothing lies behind me but that repulsive little tree! The battle for the soul is as brutal as the battles of men; but the sight of justice is the pleasure of God alone.
Yet this is the watch by night. Let us all accept new strength, and real tenderness. And at dawn, armed with glowing patience, we will enter the cities of glory.
Why did I talk about a friendly hand! My great advantage is that I can laugh at old love affairs full of falsehood, and stamp with shame such deceitful couples-- I went through women's Hell over there-- and I will be able now to possess the truth within one body and one soul. "
Cheers...this one's for you. I know you loved this.
yer suffering over
now you sleep in light
forever
with my mother
sisters in the Son
" FAREWELL
Autumn already!... But why regret the everlasting sun, if we are sworn to a search for divine brightness-- far from those who die as seasons turn....
Autumn. Our boat, risen out of a hanging fog, turns toward poverty's harbor, the monstrous city, its sky stained with fire and mud. Ah! Those stinking rags, bread soaked with rain, drunkenness, and the thousands of loves who nailed me to the cross! Will there never, ever be an end to that ghoulish queen of a million dead souls and bodies and who will all be judged!, I can see myself again, my skin corroded by dirt and disease, hair and armpits crawling with worms, and worms still larger crawling in my heart, stretched out among ageless, heartless, unknown figures.... I could easily have died there.... What a horrible memory! I detest poverty.
And I dread winter because it's so cozy!
--Sometimes in the sky I see endless sandy shores covered with white rejoicing nations. A great golden ship, above me, flutters many-colored pennants in the morning breeze. I was the creator of every feast, every triumph, every drama. I tried to invent new flowers, new planets, new flesh, new languages. I thought I had acquired supernatural powers. Ha! I have to bury my imagination and my memories! What an end to a splendid career as an artist and storyteller!
I! I called myself a magician, an angel, free from all moral constraint.... I am sent back to the soil to seek some obligation, to wrap gnarled reality in my arms. A peasant!
Am I deceived? Would Charity be the sister of death, for me?
Well, I shall ask forgiveness for having lived on lies. And that's that.
But not one friendly hand... and where can I look for help?
True; the new era is nothing if not harsh.
For I can say that I have gained a victory; the gnashing of teeth, the hissing of hellfire, the stinking sighs subside. All my monstrous memories are fading. My last longings depart-- jealousy of beggars, bandits, friends of death, all those that the world passed by-- Damned souls, if I were to take vengance!
One must be absolutely modern.
Never mind hymns of thanksgiving: hold on to a step once taken. A hard night! Dried blood smokes on my face, and nothing lies behind me but that repulsive little tree! The battle for the soul is as brutal as the battles of men; but the sight of justice is the pleasure of God alone.
Yet this is the watch by night. Let us all accept new strength, and real tenderness. And at dawn, armed with glowing patience, we will enter the cities of glory.
Why did I talk about a friendly hand! My great advantage is that I can laugh at old love affairs full of falsehood, and stamp with shame such deceitful couples-- I went through women's Hell over there-- and I will be able now to possess the truth within one body and one soul. "
Cheers...this one's for you. I know you loved this.
Blind in Dayton
My friend is getting married in a couple of weeks, so tonight is the first half of the Bachelor Party: Covington, Stanislaus and I are taking him out!. I have no idea what is going to transpire, but provided I am kept away from the Sauza, I doubt that my impression will make its ankle shattering appearance:
However, that doesn't mean we won't be rocking thisaway.
However, that doesn't mean we won't be rocking thisaway.
Pigs in Zen
I saw this report the other night, and the video of the protest, coupled with the pigs cackling over shooting this woman made me ill. If anyone finds the video I'll post it.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Lieberman Loses
I was watching CNN this morning, and Lieberman was talking about his run as an independent and he may win, so let's not uncork the champagne just yet.
However, what I find interesting is his use of the neocon talking point about how the far left has hijacked the Democratic party. He even found the time to take a swipe at Maxine Waters.
How this plays out in November will be interesting and of crucial importance, because our Constitution is at stake. Really.
Bloggers keep blogging.
However, what I find interesting is his use of the neocon talking point about how the far left has hijacked the Democratic party. He even found the time to take a swipe at Maxine Waters.
How this plays out in November will be interesting and of crucial importance, because our Constitution is at stake. Really.
Bloggers keep blogging.
Tuesday, August 8, 2006
The Bible Says...
Creation is 6000 years old.
If this is true, then its the oldest, fattest looking 6000 year old imaginable.
Via Covington
If this is true, then its the oldest, fattest looking 6000 year old imaginable.
Via Covington
Academic Dishonesty
To Say the least: But would anybody be suprised that Ann Coulter just makes it up?
Monday, August 7, 2006
Tom Waits: Hang On St. Christopher
I am currently enjoying some Glenfiddich and a Whitbread Pale Ale. In a few minutes, I will be on the road (not driving, of course) to Louisville to see Tom Waits at the Palace.
Tom hasn't been around these parts much in twenty years or so. I am very excited. Tom feels the blues in a swampy, carney sort of way. He speaks of all manner of human passions. His poetry is the poetry of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Joe Strummer. He understands the blues not as a form to be emulated, codified, and turned into pastiche, a heritage industry. Tom Wait's blues are primal and universal, the mystery of a human being confronting his subjectivity in the world.
I don't know how cogent a review I will be able to produce, but I'll try to produce some details.
Here's a classic for ya.
Update: Victorian Voodoo Laterns
One ten ounce plastic traveller flask o' 'Fiddich, one twelve ounce Bluegrass Pale Ale, and two 20 ounce bottled water later...
Reflections...
First off: It was a little weird to see Fourth Street in front of the theater closed, and we were herded into alphabetical lines. The reason, as it was going around the lines, was that the entire show was will call in an attempt to curb scalping. Must have ID and Credit Card. I appreciate the effort, though I have to wonder if there is a more efficient method. Maybe killing scalpers? Or maybe its just the fact that my right testicle now has a flat spot from standing in the 90+ degree heat with the aforementioned flask down my pants? Who knows?
Secondly: The bar service at the palace was atrocious, and I'm not just speaking for the lushes, because the bar was the only place to get any kind of beverage, including water. The Main Floor Bar was packed...ten lines out to the lobby, and in the line we got trapped in, Wavy Gravy was slinging drinks like old people fuck. Worst part...once the show started, the bar service closed, so you had one go and buy up all you could carry...thus the Pale Ale and the two waters.
All Bitching Aside: The Palace is beautiful, ancient and genteel, the kind of place that operas are splendourous, almost otherwordly, the kind of place that in a kind of bizarro world way suited the carney blues opera proceedings tonight, for the music was all of that and much more.
Tom Waits and his elegantly shambolic henchmen went through his eighties and nineties works (mostly) with a sloppy precision that comes only to the seriously (self) possessed. Bathed alternately in stark white lights and blue and red, the effect was starling, with the shadows resembling a seance, and the band a voodoo stereopticon. Woozy, underworldly, primal forest witch doctoring at its most tender and fierce. Contrasted with the stately, somewhat faded theater, I felt I was in some remote past thrown into the future, watching a revival, watching Waits speak in tongues, his own language of God. Disorienting in the truest sense. I was glad I brought my Fiddich, and had some waters, for it allowed me lose myself in this nocturne, with out all the usual rock show lunacy...A nice drink, refilled at will, and the spectacle I slipped into.
It is impossible to overstate the raw power of this event, though Waits doesn't do the Iggy thing: Iggy does, and though they mine the same deep ooze of existence, their trips are different. Power doesn't require amplifiers and devil may care writhing. Putting all on the line isn't about humping Marshalls and stage diving (not to denigrate Iggy for sure). Waits put it all out there tonight, and I feel as though I witnessed something truly wonderous and amazing, something I have not ever seen or felt at a concert: Completely egoless, given over to the man, the music, the moment.
Oh, and to whatever disgusting little sycophant that kept shouting "We Love You, Tom Waits", as if anybody had to be reminded who was on stage: Fuck Off. Respect the ritual, man. Respect the hypnosis. Respect the spell and the spellcaster...
Simply, one of the greatest things I've ever seen, if not the greatest. I am moved and disturbed beyond comprehension.
Here's a shaky audience clip from the Nashville Show.
Constitution in Crisis
Crooks and Liars has more on the Judiciary Report, and ask the simple question "Why wasn't this more publicized?".
Why indeed? I didn't hear about the report until just now. Scary.
Why indeed? I didn't hear about the report until just now. Scary.
Sunday, August 6, 2006
Are you ready for some football!!!
Tonight at 8pm on NBC marks the start of the NFL preseason . It is basically a practice scrimage between the Oakland Raiders and Philly Eagles, but there is going to be football on my TV tonight, and I am very happy about that.
The story of the of John Madden going into the Hall of Fame will be a dominant story, being that he will be calling the game. Got to love John Madden. He knows football.
The story of the of John Madden going into the Hall of Fame will be a dominant story, being that he will be calling the game. Got to love John Madden. He knows football.
Friday, August 4, 2006
Arthur Lee R.I.P
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Passion of the Tequila: Shot #2
Watch Olbermann go after O'Reilly and Geraldo concerning the Gibson Cuervogate, via Crooks and Liars.
Isn't it interesting how O'Reilly talks about "Evil Corporate Masters". Does he mean Oil and Defense Industries too? Is Bill going Marxist on us?
Isn't it interesting how O'Reilly talks about "Evil Corporate Masters". Does he mean Oil and Defense Industries too? Is Bill going Marxist on us?
Lookit!
I was fortunate enough to see Joe Strummer and the Mescalero's at Bogarts, obviously before Joe died. When I found out Joe was dead, it ruined Christmas, and has really kind of soured me for the holiday. I mean, what kind of a Santa Claus takes Joe Strummer? Anyway, I spent the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day inside a bottle of Tullamore Dew...
Anyway, check this out. Two of my favorite tastes that taste great together.
Anyway, check this out. Two of my favorite tastes that taste great together.
The Naked Vine
Check it out, winos.
"A friend of mine whom I’ll shamelessly plagiarize, once said, 'The trick isn’t finding a good $50 bottle. The trick is finding a good $12 bottle'.”
"A friend of mine whom I’ll shamelessly plagiarize, once said, 'The trick isn’t finding a good $50 bottle. The trick is finding a good $12 bottle'.”
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Holy Cojones
I followed this ballsy ride on Colorado Highway 119 for quite a while before noticing the modified suspension. Pass the Bud Lite.
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