tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post2900256199798898808..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Voluntary Slavery: Freedom from FreedomGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49141942264770774382013-04-29T09:11:25.500-07:002013-04-29T09:11:25.500-07:00Somehow, he just doesn't have the gravitas of ...Somehow, he just doesn't have the gravitas of Schuon. Or the original ObiWan, for that matter.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-7916751133422104862013-04-29T09:10:54.106-07:002013-04-29T09:10:54.106-07:00River, I was thinking that the proper beard makes ...River, I was thinking that the proper beard makes it work, especially after seeing <a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2013/04/28/Mayor-of-Reykjavik-Iceland-Voting-in-an-Election-While-Dressed-as-a-Jedi/" rel="nofollow">this picture of the mayor of Reykjavik</a> last night.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61915969906124862372013-04-29T09:08:11.749-07:002013-04-29T09:08:11.749-07:00Man, to be a clergyman in the Orthodox church you ...Man, to be a clergyman in the Orthodox church you end up wearing a Rassa a lot; because it doesn't have a collar people always ask Clergymen if they are Jedi or Wizards.<br /><br />A good beard goes a long way to making it work.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76174274054484932852013-04-29T08:22:56.959-07:002013-04-29T08:22:56.959-07:00I had a male neighbor who came to a New Year's...I had a male neighbor who came to a New Year's Eve party in a kaftan. It was pretty daring, but it definitely was not fueled by stones. Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50790711135950268892013-04-29T07:33:09.938-07:002013-04-29T07:33:09.938-07:00Speaking of Schuon, how is Cutsinger's new boo...Speaking of Schuon, how is Cutsinger's new book?juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-89338053318210883102013-04-28T12:48:04.664-07:002013-04-28T12:48:04.664-07:00The only downside is, these days people would assu...The only downside is, these days people would assume any man with Schuon's look is a believer in the Jedi religion...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49850583665982740762013-04-28T12:43:57.849-07:002013-04-28T12:43:57.849-07:00Advertising slogan:
Are you man enough for the ...Advertising slogan: <br /><br /><i>Are you man enough for the Urban Kaftan?</i>Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-29778589702360534292013-04-28T12:11:59.789-07:002013-04-28T12:11:59.789-07:00Schuon could do it. Or at least he'd dare you...<a href="http://www.worldwisdom.com/uploads/authorphotos/Schuon/10-SchuonMediaPhoto.jpg" rel="nofollow">Schuon</a> could do it. Or at least he'd dare you to make a comment. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1276889395866190242013-04-28T11:58:19.962-07:002013-04-28T11:58:19.962-07:00lol - Say that four times, fast...
And yeah, it t...lol - Say that four times, fast...<br /><br />And yeah, it takes some serious stones to make that look natural.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91795300967655001872013-04-28T11:52:22.423-07:002013-04-28T11:52:22.423-07:00Gotta admire a guy who can effortlessly pull off t...Gotta admire a guy who can effortlessly pull off <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001NYVSCG/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=163856011&s=dmusic" rel="nofollow">this look</a>.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72525417720290939442013-04-28T11:14:55.243-07:002013-04-28T11:14:55.243-07:00Yes, he's got a real presence. Reminds me of ...Yes, he's got a real presence. Reminds me of what Sam Phillips said when he first heard Howlin' Wolf: "This is where the soul of man never dies."Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27322259590642599392013-04-28T11:12:00.719-07:002013-04-28T11:12:00.719-07:00Wow, didn't know much about Havens work also. ...Wow, didn't know much about Havens work also. These songs are solid and soulful!tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07354048695798015131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71822043551529554962013-04-28T10:52:30.108-07:002013-04-28T10:52:30.108-07:00Another great collection: Richie Havens, High Fly...Another great collection: Richie Havens, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/High-Flyin-Verve-Forecast-Years/dp/B00C31CG8I/ref=tf_ssw?&linkCode=wss&tag=onecos-20" rel="nofollow">High Flyin' Bird: The Verve/Forecast Years</a>. Heard about this at PowerLine, where they mentioned that he had recently passed away. I was shamefully ignorant of his work, knowing little about him beyond the fact that he'd opened Woodstock in 1969. This is his first three albums -- 39 tracks for only $19. Normally I'd want the CD version, but it's out of print and way overpriced. Brings to mind Astral Weeks: jazzy, acoustic guitar-based soul-folk music. Try out the samples...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30956038293661679162013-04-27T08:37:34.632-07:002013-04-27T08:37:34.632-07:00Fortunately the people who originally built the ho...Fortunately the people who originally built the house did a good job and loved it for twenty years. They came to visit us when we moved in, since they still live in the area. It was those who came after them who did the shoddy repairs and installations. We're having to do all the repairs and renovations ourselves as there is almost no one around here who does good work, and those who do are extremely busy.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-213934050146398692013-04-27T08:24:51.188-07:002013-04-27T08:24:51.188-07:00Actually the first sign of the destruction was tha...Actually the first sign of the destruction was that I actually had to tell them to go out and build the tree house. Any incentive on their part to do it had already been smothered in Germany.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85070016068016995142013-04-27T08:22:57.137-07:002013-04-27T08:22:57.137-07:00Yikes! It's amazing the kind of things people ...Yikes! It's amazing the kind of things people will do to "fix" their homes...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-36699114556254866902013-04-27T08:18:17.677-07:002013-04-27T08:18:17.677-07:00The house we bought here in TN was missing two joi...The house we bought here in TN was missing two joists under the bathroom, so the shower stall swayed every time you stood in it, because it was just hanging in space over the basement, and the stove was grounded with a binder clip.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83026427962648867592013-04-27T08:07:06.997-07:002013-04-27T08:07:06.997-07:00Julie, good luck with the house hunting.
When we ...Julie, good luck with the house hunting.<br /><br />When we moved back to the US after living for thirteen years in Germany, one of the first things I told the boys to do was to go out and build a tree fort, now that we had our own trees and yard for the first time. Their first question to me was, "Is it allowed?" That's the moment when I realized how insideously destructive socialist paradise had been, where you need to have permission to do anything, even the most simple things.Christina Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03026226686936294936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33005763221578524832013-04-27T06:30:42.875-07:002013-04-27T06:30:42.875-07:00george jones
Sparkling Brown Eyesgeorge jones<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnE_5qHk2ok" rel="nofollow"> Sparkling Brown Eyes </a>gehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015936407999495181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17438162650789456282013-04-26T14:06:33.213-07:002013-04-26T14:06:33.213-07:00The troubling part is that at this point, it's...The troubling part is that at this point, it's realistically impossible for anyone to win without someone losing. <br /><br />I'm all for positive sum thinking, but the way it goes is this. If you have two groups, and each has things the other wants, they must decide to trade for there to be a positive sum gain (they both gain from this transaction.) Like electricity, this charge is created by the real differential between the groups; different customs, different resources, different needs.<br /><br />But if both sides refuse to trade for long enough (perhaps one side demands the other share everything without recompense, or one side wants to cheat the other side intentionally) at some point the only way for either side to gain back what it has lost is to take it. That trust can only be rebuilt gradually, and if there is no longer a common ground, any attempt at 'a compromise' will simply be one side papering its demands as reasonable to make the decision-makers of the other side look backwards and irrational.<br /><br />And this happens, even if one of the sides is and has been acting in mostly (if not completely) good faith.<br /><br />The idea of Pareto Optimizations is useful here. A Pareto Optimization is one where nobody loses - and at least someone gains. The trick to most social policy is to paper the policy to appear Pareto - therefore those who oppose it can be marked as envious ('it's not HURTING you, is it?') <br /><br />This loss of common ground (probably beginning with the loss of the Commons) leads to more and more zero-sum and negative-sum solutions. (Negative sum being, whoever gets hurt the least wins.) <br /><br />For instance, the increase of government leads inextricably to zero-sum thinking: because it doesn't create wealth, increasing it over a certain point means that for the majority of people to gain from it, it must lose. <br /><br />Without a healthy, face to face social contract, I'm more and more convinced that government 'money' is nothing short of theft.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81133994544994135312013-04-26T12:04:28.521-07:002013-04-26T12:04:28.521-07:00Some leftist mocked the fact that Obama is unpopul...Some leftist mocked the fact that Obama is unpopular in rural areas. Who cares, they said, about empty space? <br /><br />On the one hand, reading along and thinking about how successful the dependent culture has become in terms of popularity, I feel some unease. It is starting to look like creating and cultivating dumb masses is a winning strategy. <br /><br />Then I think about the weeds and the wheat. Weeding time is coming.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20100579448843989062013-04-26T10:21:05.402-07:002013-04-26T10:21:05.402-07:00One Thing has been leading to another Thing, e.g.,...<i> One Thing has been leading to another Thing, e.g., changes to the pool situation requiring extensive rewiring, so the house doesn't blow up. </i><br /><br />Kind of like pulling on a loose thread in a knitted sweater. Though it's good to get an old house rewired. Depending on how old your wires are, they really can be dangerous. There's nothing quite like hearing unexpected crackling noises coming from the walls when the AC kicks on...<br /><br /><i>This is especially true in a leftist culture that creates incentives to identify with one's own enslavement instead of taking advantage of liberty.</i><br /><br />It even comes up in the way people live now. Going house hunting the last couple of weekends has been somewhat illuminating. In the cities we're considering, almost every neighborhood is part of a gated community, with very strict rules about who is allowed to enter. If you want to drive by just to look at the outside of a place that's for sale, you're out of luck. And if it's a weekend and the security guard is off taking a constitutional, even if you have an appointment you can't get in. They <i>seem</i> secure, but at what cost? For instance, if you're waiting for an ambulance, how helpful are those gates?<br /><br />I have to wonder, too, just how effective the gates are at keeping out the riff raff. It didn't seem to help in George Zimmerman's neighborhood...<br /><br />I saw a listing today that looks nice. It's an older home on a ranch lot - gigantic back yard, no pool, the neighbors are more than five feet away, and best of all there's no HOA. Whoever lives there is completely responsible for keeping the place up, and it looks like it's no small task. But on the plus side, if you want to put in a kitchen garden or build a tree fort in the back yard, it's a lot less likely that anyone will look over the fence and fine you for having the wrong number of shrubs or blocking somebody's view. The house looks a tad quirky, but I'd put up with a lot to give my kids a taste of the sort of freedom I had growing up...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81738162233773993082013-04-26T09:17:43.934-07:002013-04-26T09:17:43.934-07:00"You gotta serve somebody..."
Freedom i..."You gotta serve somebody..."<br /><br />Freedom is the most difficult master to serve.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.com