tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5094467605531956054..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: How's that High-Vibration Light-Worker with Powerful Luminosity Workin' Out for Ya?Gagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61931229034333290802011-09-07T19:30:47.283-07:002011-09-07T19:30:47.283-07:00Impossible to say. Aurobindo certainly thought s...Impossible to say. Aurobindo certainly thought so, for what it's worth. <br /><br />It's a bit too easy to read back into history from the perspective of knowing what happened, so there are not too many people I would nominate as having clearly had world-historical missions. George Washington would be one. <br /><br />Churchill was obviously a seriously flawed man, but it is difficult to think of anyone else who could have used rhetoric the way he did, to rally the country and hold off the Nazis until America's involvement. I wasn't aware of the magnitude of the famine, but an important point to bear in mind is what would have happened to India had Japan or Germany won the war. This was uppermost in Aurobindo's mind, since there were more than a few pro-Axis Indians, due to their antipathy toward the British.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37874921410038776992011-09-07T19:15:07.626-07:002011-09-07T19:15:07.626-07:00I do not disagree that Chuchill was probably a nar...I do not disagree that Chuchill was probably a narcissist. The way you positioned him in your text, I interpreted it like you saw in him an instrument of God's will on Earth, as you seem to do with, among others, Abraham Lincoln.C A Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671454924296896020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27763609106278769592011-09-06T19:30:12.242-07:002011-09-06T19:30:12.242-07:00All I said about Churchill is that he was probably...All I said about Churchill is that he was probably a narcissist. Do you disagree?Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-87768808698770596502011-09-06T17:34:02.435-07:002011-09-06T17:34:02.435-07:00Funny you should mention Churchill.
That he was ...Funny you should mention Churchill. <br /><br />That he was crucial in defeating Hitler will always be a righteous source of pride for his legacy.<br /><br />The sacrifices of the Russian people in defeating Hitler will always be a righteous source of pride for them.<br /><br />BUT...<br /><br />The Red Army engaged in wanton rape and plunder in Easter Europe and in the defeated Berlin, a practice which was sanctioned all the way from the top. To paraphrase, Stalin said something like: "Oh, these guys work hard, give them a break!"<br /><br />AND...<br /><br />Winston Churchill's politics towards India during World War II was, with its manmade and intentional famine, every bit as genocidal as Stalin's politics towards the Ukraine. If you wish to learn more, please read: <br /><br />Muskerjee, Madhusree ; Churchill’s Secret War - The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II. <br /><br />I tell you this, because you need a fuller and more rounded picture of the people you idolize. Sometimes I feel your moving to the right in politics is just a way to embrace the status quo, which surely is an easy stance to take, and a way to take the brunt off caused by your youthful radicalism. Ah, well!C A Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671454924296896020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86660584387288534202011-09-02T08:13:23.184-07:002011-09-02T08:13:23.184-07:00Now I know how to keep them from raiding the cat f...Now I know how to keep them from raiding the cat food.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-82359541733587342302011-09-02T07:31:31.259-07:002011-09-02T07:31:31.259-07:00Awesome, Joan. He looks like a leaping lemur towar...Awesome, Joan. He looks like a leaping lemur towards the end, there :)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-49093011255327911662011-09-02T05:37:31.674-07:002011-09-02T05:37:31.674-07:00That's the magic of beer - from crawling on al...That's the magic of beer - from crawling on all fours, to running on two. Of course... it usually works the other way around, but... there ya go.<br /><br />I've had that .gif running on the side for about 5 min now, hilarious!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41642904277527132272011-09-02T05:00:08.815-07:002011-09-02T05:00:08.815-07:00It's Friday now, when all good raccoons celebr...It's Friday now, when all good raccoons <a href="http://i.imgur.com/MLagb.gif" rel="nofollow">celebrate finding beer in their picnic basket.</a><br /><br />Cheers!Joan of Argghh!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14729682908266300507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88794286196458458042011-09-02T01:15:45.572-07:002011-09-02T01:15:45.572-07:00An odd coincidence - Dennis Prager had on Ian Plim...An odd coincidence - Dennis Prager had on Ian Plimer - author of Heaven AND Earth: Global warming and the missing science today (ok, yesterday - but it was the same morning Bob wrote this post).Alan McCannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01638364076808034984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58772103838141943772011-09-01T15:14:37.601-07:002011-09-01T15:14:37.601-07:00"Also, Landes is aware of the fact that any i..."Also, Landes is aware of the fact that any imaginative "lumper" such as himself can and will be picked apart by hyper-critical and anal-obsessive academic "splitters," because that is what splitters do: toss cold water on forest fliers."<br /><br />This hit me, too. I run into that a lot. People try to reprove me for relating things (as a mode in general) rather than sticking to narrow analytical tracks. Even though I understand the underlying factors, it still tends to catch me off guard.<br /><br />wv says, strikingly: anialyAnnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63630973553836293192011-09-01T14:18:33.853-07:002011-09-01T14:18:33.853-07:00"One reason the book will be controversial is..."One reason the book will be controversial is that it presents a frontal challenge to "positivist notions about the clear division between secular and religious phenomena" (Landes)."<br /><br />As Van would say... << gong >><br /><br />This is a particularly interesting and a sometimes gnarly set of issues. I think I know something about it and then it seems I know very little. It seems like I'm lost and found on it on a rotating basis. Er hemm... reading on. And I'm interested!Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-55810154785620750612011-09-01T14:00:36.052-07:002011-09-01T14:00:36.052-07:00Dear Bob,
Excellent post. And I am happy you are...Dear Bob,<br /><br />Excellent post. And I am happy you are linking to Sultan Knish.<br /><br />For the millenarian origins of socialism, I recommend The Socialist Phenomenon by igor Shafarevich. At times he seems to posit an actual organizational continuity between ancient socialisms, the Brotherhood of the Free Spirit, and the later development of political socialisms, and I do not find that convincing, but his sketch of the intellectual history of the socialist idea is very helpful.<br /><br />May I also recommend Norman Cohn's Pursuit of the Millenium, which discusses the medieval millenarianisms and some of the extreme phenomena that accompanied the Reformation(e.g. in Jan Bockelson's Muenster) - connecting them intellectually to XXth century fascism and Nazism. he omits communism, if I recall correctly.<br /><br />I find Landes's distinction between fascism and communism interesting. Both represent statist, centrally controlled economies, but they do have different ways of organizing things.<br /><br />Millenarianism has complicated the Jewish tradition at several pooints, notably the early jewish-Christian movement, and then of course with Sabbateanism.<br /><br />Perhaps you will want to discuss how the Church has avoided the millenarian temptation despite the fervently hoped for deliverance at the eschaton.<br /><br />The most hellish hells on earth have certainly been those created by men who sought to "immanentize the eschaton" and force into being a heaven-on-earth.<br /><br />GandalinGandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17009517063915759512011-09-01T13:36:55.979-07:002011-09-01T13:36:55.979-07:00(Oh - or not; my earlier comment was in reference ...(Oh - or not; my earlier comment was in reference to his earlier link; some days, it's hard to keep up...)juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-65236936691774886622011-09-01T13:27:37.929-07:002011-09-01T13:27:37.929-07:00:D
Obviously, I skimmed through too fast...:D<br />Obviously, I skimmed through too fast...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72368135783980355072011-09-01T13:26:55.071-07:002011-09-01T13:26:55.071-07:001000 was a pretty good year for civilization.1000 was a pretty good year for civilization.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126071014909954387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-4481622488555219172011-09-01T13:25:26.646-07:002011-09-01T13:25:26.646-07:00Bob says:
"Landes doesn't get into it --...Bob says:<br /><br />"Landes doesn't get into it -- perhaps too hot to handle for a member of academia -- but I don't think there's any doubt that Obama rode in on a wave of millennial hopes and dreams. In fact, it is almost as if he were aware of millennial dynamics, and consciously strove to trigger and exploit them in the masses."<br /><br />It was overall, a pretty weak millennial impulse wave. Obama tapped into it in a very superficial manner.<br /><br />The weakness of the wave is evident in the manner in which it has basically already collapsed.<br /><br />I wasn't that worried when he got elected and I'm not that worried now.<br /><br />He's inert. He won the prize. Now he has absolutely no idea what to do with it.<br /><br />He's kind of just sitting there, like a deer in headlights.<br /><br />No real passion. Which is a very good thing.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126071014909954387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50537936918743595362011-09-01T13:25:13.816-07:002011-09-01T13:25:13.816-07:00Boom! "<a href="http://sultanknish.b...Boom! "<a href="http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-liberalism-is-reactionary-ideology.html'>The narrative</a> that liberal pundits have constructed and continually replayed over the last year is one in which progress minded and enlightened liberals are working to reform America into a modern society, while being stymied by a bunch of knuckle dragging reactionary conservatives who are anti-Science and want to drag America back into the dark ages. There's only one problem with this narrative, it's actually a mirror image of reality.<br /><br />"When it comes to holding on to reactionary ideas or maintaining an ideological worldview built on a reflexive hostility to modernity; nobody can top the modern leftist or his tamer liberal cousin. If you took away leader worship, fear of technology, the state as the solution to all problems, the supremacy of the group over the individual and the belief that the "enlightened" should rule over the common masses for their own good and control every aspect of their lives-- there would be nothing left of the modern liberal. Literally nothing at all.<br /><br />"Every time a liberal pundit self-righteously trots out the stereotype of the ignorant science bashing conservative who just won't accept the science of the environmentalist movement, he needs to be reminded that the entire environmentalist movement is founded on a fear of the products of science, namely technology and modern civilization...."<br />(from Vanderleun's sidebar)Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-553646314621587602011-09-01T13:23:46.129-07:002011-09-01T13:23:46.129-07:00Ah ha - I knew he was getting close; I was thinkin...Ah ha - I knew he was getting close; I was thinking that his Liberal Apocalypse (which Vanderleun also linked today) might be it, but it lacked the right ringtone.<br /><br />That said, I really hate the portrait in that post ; I remember when you posted it here once, and it is no less painful now. Nor any less fitting, for that matter...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77572614792530786952011-09-01T13:18:23.156-07:002011-09-01T13:18:23.156-07:00Today's post in other words...Today's post <a href="http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/08/political-messiahs-in-tailored-suits.html" rel="nofollow">in other words</a>...Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-51561757245305610332011-09-01T13:06:48.366-07:002011-09-01T13:06:48.366-07:00Via Vanderleun's sidebar, this seems apropos: ...Via Vanderleun's sidebar, <a href="http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2011/08/shawarma-republics-are-burning.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> seems apropos: "The Islamic Caliphate as a panacea for the problems caused by Islamic caliphates is about as good an idea as pouring gasoline on a fire."juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73931774009046100122011-09-01T12:25:16.325-07:002011-09-01T12:25:16.325-07:00Van said: On the other hand, the possibility that ...Van said: <i>On the other hand, the possibility that understanding yourself, and thoroughly knowing what your are doing, and why, is pretty much dismissed. Too boring. No events. No lists. Meh.</i><br /><br />A lot of the self-help, new-age types point to James Allen's little tract called "As a Man Thinketh" as being foundational to their philosophy. But what I remember Allen saying is that a person does not get what they <i>want</i>; they get what they <i>are</i>. <br /><br />The context of the verse in Proverbs from which Allen takes his title is exactly that: pay no attention to what people say; it is what they think in their hearts that determines what they are. If people will clean up their inner being, their external circumstances will conform to the state of their hearts.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66543591245567222552011-09-01T11:45:11.223-07:002011-09-01T11:45:11.223-07:00Mushroom said "I should have read Julie's...Mushroom said "I should have read Julie's comment before typing my second one."<br /><br />Vu ja De.<br /><br />Gagdad said "...2076 is looking like a bad year, since it's our 300 and 1500 for the Islamists. ..."<br /><br />2076 eh? I'll leave a note for the Grand kids and thank my lucky stars for my (assumed) early exit... and their lucky stars for having made it that far.<br /><br />wv:tomip<br />Who's 'mip'? Messianic VIP?Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-61883683250954284582011-09-01T11:38:16.991-07:002011-09-01T11:38:16.991-07:00Julie said "...to the popularity of self-help...Julie said "...to the popularity of self-help gurus who have the secret to your instant success if you'll just follow these several steps, add water, and don't forget to click your heels together at the end."<br /><br />I see similar thoughts were conjured up. <br /><br />wv says "comons"<br />Not sure if that means "Commons" or "Come on's", but we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe for an anniversary. Who knows.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32126448359623070992011-09-01T11:37:17.459-07:002011-09-01T11:37:17.459-07:00In reference to your question about anniversaries....In reference to your question about anniversaries.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81394631212459957722011-09-01T11:36:31.409-07:002011-09-01T11:36:31.409-07:00He goes into that a lot. Details as we go along, ...He goes into that a lot. Details as we go along, but 2076 is looking like a bad year, since it's our 300 and 1500 for the Islamists. An unharmonious convergence.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.com