tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6854238688167864573..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Getting Stuck on Smart with Deep StupidityGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79013134673948801972010-05-14T08:17:01.909-07:002010-05-14T08:17:01.909-07:00Yup. No anger at all -- or, the anger is purely &...Yup. No anger at all -- or, the anger is purely "objective." The vital anger is just a projection of the left. <br /><br />Never trust someone who isn't a plain speaker.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18849351181563085202010-05-14T08:09:45.115-07:002010-05-14T08:09:45.115-07:00Not to mention how relaxed and comfortable Christi...Not to mention how relaxed and comfortable Christie looks while speaking his mind.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13104505231007166592010-05-14T07:19:44.451-07:002010-05-14T07:19:44.451-07:00I don't know if I could stretch it into a whol...I don't know if I could stretch it into a whole post, but it is certainly noteworthy, because it's not just stupidity, but again, that special <i>motivated stupidity</i> of the left. A prime example of Bion's "attack on linking," through which the person makes the unwanted meaning go away by picking it apart. <br /><br />And the key point is that, either consciously or unconsciously, Holder obviously knows the truth, which is why his responses are so strange. Again, truth is a force. But look what it does to Holder -- it makes him look like the clown that he is!<br /><br />Compare with Christie. It would be difficult to find more stark confirmation of today's post.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86919283826679704182010-05-14T05:57:52.755-07:002010-05-14T05:57:52.755-07:00RE Holder, just a couple of observations by an arm...RE Holder, just a couple of observations by an armchair analyst:<br /><br />The first thing that jumps out is Holder’s first answer… it is to repeat the question. As if his hearing has suddenly failed him. I’ve seen this reaction many times. He’d rather not be asked the question and is just buying time. His second decision, if not split-second, he wishes to disconnect the dots by breaking up the question, that Mr. Smith and any normal person interested in the truth can see. But it is deeper than that. His first reaction is to not want to “hear the words”, a point Baillie makes in his book.<br /><br />Mr. Smith must take him down the road, holding his hand, really. Holder’s first “opening” is to admit that “religion” may sit at the table. By the time he lets radical Islam “enter”, he has by then expanded the category of possibilities so wide that everyone is a suspect. Including, if not especially, teabaggers and Jewish carpenters. If you’re a radical Islamist, this is a pretty sweet policy.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1979304910835162642010-05-14T05:36:12.225-07:002010-05-14T05:36:12.225-07:00Congrats, NB! Blessings to you and the growing fam...Congrats, NB! Blessings to you and the growing family.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-67432423372151196542010-05-14T05:34:44.179-07:002010-05-14T05:34:44.179-07:00Bob, that Holder video is a remarkable exchange. I...Bob, that Holder video is a remarkable exchange. I read the transcript first, but it reads as well as any great movie script. I had to watch the video to make certain the transcript was faithful to what actually took place. I mean, it’s remarkable that it was live.<br /><br />I hope you blog about it today.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-87381356262262123402010-05-14T03:28:45.704-07:002010-05-14T03:28:45.704-07:00Christie is great, but that dang Lateral 'L...Christie is great, but that dang Lateral 'L' speech [d]effect [think Tom Brokaw] he is stuck with!... If somehow he & Giuliani are on the same team, they both got that happening!, I for one'll go nuts.... then there is this other rising repub. star: <br /><a href="http://www.scottwalker.org/" rel="nofollow">Scott Walker</a>gehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015936407999495181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-9456595275990058412010-05-13T20:27:46.817-07:002010-05-13T20:27:46.817-07:00Damn, Gov. Christie is just awesome. If his action...Damn, Gov. Christie is just awesome. If his actions back up his words, the people of New Jersey might actually have a brighter outlook for the next four years.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-31459420712037970502010-05-13T19:58:29.111-07:002010-05-13T19:58:29.111-07:00Perfect example of what I meant about the left con...<a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/05/026287.php" rel="nofollow">Perfect example</a> of what I meant about the left confusing their ridiculous contortions with "nuance."Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-57315769864367797692010-05-13T19:52:37.210-07:002010-05-13T19:52:37.210-07:00Oh no, boys will give you the gray hairs. Definit...Oh no, boys will give you the gray hairs. Definitely.Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-21664896056720583812010-05-13T19:47:11.807-07:002010-05-13T19:47:11.807-07:00"at 1 yrs old"... er... "at 11 yrs ..."at 1 yrs old"... er... "at <b>11</b> yrs old"Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83270366612765631112010-05-13T19:45:28.055-07:002010-05-13T19:45:28.055-07:00NB said "Aspects of the cosmos which emerge s...NB said "Aspects of the cosmos which emerge so close to the source -- to O itself -- are always as new and pure as the very first one. I've held friend and family babies, I have nieces and a nephew -- yet my baby is unique and whole, without in any way diminishing the others. That sense of inexhaustible love... you know what I mean?"<br /><br />Yes indeedy... amazing, isn't it?<br /><br />Gagdad said "I'm told it gets easier after the first 25 years or so..."<br /><br />Well... maybe... we'll see... unless they join some outfit that sends them towards people that shoot at them... maybe another 25 yrs.<br /><br />"... although I understand that girls are trickier..."<br /><br />That's what I thought, but so far our girl has been the easiest of the bunch. But of course at 1 yrs old... that may be a bit like the guy falling past the 50th floor of a skyscraper saying "So far, so good!"<br /><br />;-)<br /><br />Coongrats again Mr. & Mrs. NB!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-67582016394026090902010-05-13T19:40:31.125-07:002010-05-13T19:40:31.125-07:00NB-
Congrats on the joyous addition to your famil...NB-<br /><br />Congrats on the joyous addition to your family...have fun and good luck!!Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18840654296813806782010-05-13T19:35:13.476-07:002010-05-13T19:35:13.476-07:00"Scratch a leftist and you will always find a..."Scratch a leftist and you will always find a well of irrational, idealistic sentimentality that becomes the basis and justification for the omnipotent state, e.g., "social justice," "standing up for the little guy," "fairness," etc. <br /><br />This is why the left doesn't really have ideas but icons -- including "iconic ideas.""<br /><br />Yep, 'iconic ideas' or positions, they've got in droves... principles? Not a one in sight. Irving Babbitt noted this as the difference between old style humanism (the Thomistic, not the proregressive sort) and that which poses as it, the humanitarian, those who state their gushy love for all mankind... while simultaneously wishing that 'fly over country' would be wiped out by a biblical flood ("Be my brother or I'll kill you."). Why? For one thing, it makes being 'admirable' as easy as saying you support a position, and on the other hand, abandoning ideas for positions allows you to preach cutting your 'carbon footprint' to avert an immanent rise in sea levels, while spending your carbon footprint cashola on buying beachfront mansions.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nhinet.org/dl.htm#NR1" rel="nofollow">Irving Babbitt, in <i>"Democracy and Imperialism, Or Democracy and Standards?"</i> put it,</a><br /><br /><i>"...At bottom the point of view of the "uplifter" is so popular because it nourishes spiritual complacency; it enables a man to look on himself as "up" and on some one else as "down." But there is psychological if not theological truth in the assertion of Jonathan Edwards that complacent people are a "particular smoke" in God's nostrils. A man needs to look, not down, but up to standards set so much above his ordinary self as to make him feel that he is himself spiritually the underdog. The man who thus looks up is becoming worthy to be looked up to in turn, and, to this extent, qualifying for leadership. Leadership of this type, one may add, may prove to be, in the long run, the only effectual counterpoise to that of the imperialistic superman. <br /><br />No amount of devotion to society and its supposed interests can take the place of this inner obeisance of the spirit to standards. The humanitarian would seem to be caught here in a vicious circle. If he turns from the inner life to serve his fellow men, he becomes a busy-body. If he sets out again to become exemplary primarily with a view to the benefit of others, he becomes a prig. Nothing will avail short of humility. Humility, as Burke saw, is the ultimate root of the justice that should prevail in the secular order, as well as of the virtues that are specifically religious. The modern problem, I have been insisting, is to secure leaders with an allegiance to standards, now that the traditional order with which Burke associated his standards and leadership has been so seriously shaken. Those who have broken with the traditional beliefs have thus far shown themselves singularly ineffective in dealing with this problem of leadership, even when they have admitted the need of leaders at all</i>..."<br /><br />At some point we've got to wise up over getting stuck on smart with deep stupidity... here's a good B.S. Detector: Check their positions against reality. And don't worry, you rarely have to look much further than the 1st assertion to see the glaring cons... you know, with things like statements of "Temperatures are rising!", check to see if the temperatures were evenly selected (or properly recorded)... or whether <a href="http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/index.php?catid=14:text&id=232:rossmckitrick-02-10-09&option=com_content&view=article" rel="nofollow">they were cherry picked to support a predetermined position</a>... if the former, move on to the next, but don't worry, it's usually the later, right off the bat.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-56626194544519806202010-05-13T19:23:12.796-07:002010-05-13T19:23:12.796-07:00Thanks!
25 years?
Man, I've just gotten to t...Thanks!<br /><br />25 years?<br /><br />Man, I've just gotten to the point where I'm now denominating for her age in days instead of hours.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-36042413433853300582010-05-13T18:52:47.880-07:002010-05-13T18:52:47.880-07:00And congratulations NB! Don't worry, I'm ...And congratulations NB! Don't worry, I'm told it gets easier after the first 25 years or so... although I understand that girls are trickier...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-68937903143142291252010-05-13T18:49:57.972-07:002010-05-13T18:49:57.972-07:00Man crush.<a href="http://www.thefoxnation.com/gov-chris-christie/2010/05/13/must-watch-gov-christie-destroys-thin-skinned-reporter" rel="nofollow">Man crush</a>.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66099585865902367412010-05-13T18:39:31.704-07:002010-05-13T18:39:31.704-07:00Most of you already know this: one's first new...Most of you already know this: one's first new baby unleashes fresh and inexhaustible joy and purity which paradoxically is no less new and holy no matter how many babies you've already known in your life. Aspects of the cosmos which emerge so close to the source -- to O itself -- are always as <i>new and pure</i> as the very first one. I've held friend and family babies, I have nieces and a nephew -- yet my baby is unique and whole, without in any way diminishing the others. That sense of inexhaustible love... you know what I mean?<br /><br />All but the most hardened leftist responds with the same awe and joy to their first child, which is why I believe there is hope for most of them.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51689118539420791352010-05-13T17:50:15.875-07:002010-05-13T17:50:15.875-07:00Susanah,
The scene in one of Lewis's books (on...Susanah,<br /><i>The scene in one of Lewis's books (one of my very favorites) in which a boy is divested of his most unwelcome dragonish-ness comes to mind.</i><br /><br />Yes, exactly! That was <i>The Dawn treader</i>, right? One of my favorites in the series. I remember reading that when I was a kid, and feeling rather sympathetic for the poor brat, while at the same time glad that <i>something</i> had finally gotten past his thick hide :)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19041077621528072312010-05-13T17:44:06.518-07:002010-05-13T17:44:06.518-07:00"novelgazes" Amen to that! I do appreci..."novelgazes" Amen to that! I do appreciate the "made new again" posts...There's no way to exhaust it all in one reading. I do believe this one is familiar, though only vaguely...but maybe, just maybe, my newbie-ness is beginning to wear off.<br /><br />"Truth is not just true, but a force. This is why it elicits such strong reactions in people. You will have undoubtedly noticed that when you comprehend a deep truth, there is a pleasant physical sensation that goes along with it... "<br /><br />"Another way of saying it is that Truth is a presence."<br /><br />That holy "Yes!" of recognition in one's spirit. Even the turning over of fallow ground, as Julie was saying, though it might be painful for a season, has a pleasant aroma of *hope* about it--future reaping. To be "dealt with" by Him means I am loved, for He chastens those He loves to happy, fruitful ends. The scene in one of Lewis's books (one of my very favorites) in which a boy is divested of his most unwelcome dragonish-ness comes to mind.<br /><br />And to be in that manifest presence...well, there's really no substitute in the horizontal for it: "in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."Susannahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16381272662339466736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-68999509957148181802010-05-13T16:59:39.241-07:002010-05-13T16:59:39.241-07:00" -- almost like the seasons, in which there ..." -- almost like the seasons, in which there is a time to plant and a time to harvest."<br /><br />Been on one of those plateauing 'lulls' here too... lot's of imbibing of materials and ideas... not much to show for it on the blogsurface... but seems like lots of seeds are a germinating... will just have to wait and see what sprouts up when it does.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44288403760533449742010-05-13T16:55:53.557-07:002010-05-13T16:55:53.557-07:00"You will have undoubtedly noticed that when ..."You will have undoubtedly noticed that when you comprehend a deep truth, there is a pleasant physical sensation that goes along with it -- hard to describe (Christopher Bollas calls it "the erotics of being"), but if you could amplify its vibrations, it would feel like getting the punch line of a joke, or the parts of your being lining up like iron filings, or perhaps properly hitting a baseball."<br /><br />Very much agree ('punch line' especially relevant when reading marx and realizing the truth he papered over).<br /><br />"Truth is not only not accepted by most people, but engenders a counter-force that is actively hostile to it."<br /><br />Yep. Like offering a delicious Italian feast to an anorexic.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37609276762078811762010-05-13T14:08:24.430-07:002010-05-13T14:08:24.430-07:00Aw, don't be too hard on him, Rick - he's ...Aw, don't be too hard on him, Rick - he's off somewhere celebrating wedded bliss.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-75860923454889077232010-05-13T14:05:07.267-07:002010-05-13T14:05:07.267-07:00Same here. Plus, that's what you got me fer.
T...Same here. Plus, that's what you got me fer.<br />Thing is, Gil gave the book a couple thumbs up. I'm tracking him down..Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91218597066112020932010-05-13T14:01:22.122-07:002010-05-13T14:01:22.122-07:00Never really cared for him. Too French. I much p...Never really cared for him. Too French. I much prefer him refracted through Bailie.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.com