tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post5815070492273031849..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Three Thousand Years of Unmediated Heroes, from Moses to Sandy KoufaxGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58673693248641979202009-04-03T07:21:00.000-07:002009-04-03T07:21:00.000-07:00Welcome, ruth!Good to have you!Welcome, ruth!<BR/><BR/>Good to have you!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-86031557140047566692008-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:002008-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00Good to see you Ben!Good to see you Ben!Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-41784267630867021212008-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:002008-02-28T09:18:00.000-08:00Ximeze! You n' Beaky rock! :^)Ximeze! You n' Beaky rock! :^)USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50973814346929323522008-02-28T08:35:00.000-08:002008-02-28T08:35:00.000-08:00What Julie said!(Beaky sends you birdie-kisses too...What Julie said!<BR/>(Beaky sends you birdie-kisses too)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42208322127225201032008-02-28T08:22:00.000-08:002008-02-28T08:22:00.000-08:00Thanks Julie! I'll try to be more punctual.And fra...Thanks Julie! <BR/>I'll try to be more punctual.<BR/>And frankly, you, Bob, Will, and all the Raccoons are my Heroes!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35437858033542184392008-02-28T07:56:00.000-08:002008-02-28T07:56:00.000-08:00Ben, you've been entirely too quiet lately. You've...Ben, you've been entirely too quiet lately. You've been missed.<BR/><BR/>And you're still my hero.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-92042226461736796082008-02-28T07:47:00.000-08:002008-02-28T07:47:00.000-08:00Speaking of heroes.I saw the headline of a story w...Speaking of heroes.<BR/>I saw the headline of a story where a girl lit her teachers hair on fire and anguished over the decline of society.<BR/>Then I read the story and discovered that she had lit the ponytail of her male science teacher.<BR/>Maybe there is hope. ;*)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40397066309645419932008-02-28T07:11:00.000-08:002008-02-28T07:11:00.000-08:00"For if you think about various heroes of old, it’..."For if you think about various heroes of old, it’s because we know so little about them (or have so few images) that their deeds may be imagined and therefore mythologized. As de Zengotita puts it, “real heroes of the past were represented with a frugality that is almost impossible to credit today.” But that doesn't result in knowing less about them -- or about reality -- but knowing more, in the vertical sense."<BR/><BR/>Indeed! Today, it's in vogue to know EVERY SORDID DETAIL! To...deconstruct Heroes.<BR/><BR/>Are Heroes human? Of course!<BR/>Do Heroes have weaknesses and faults? Sure they do. <BR/><BR/>Does that make them any less of a Hero? Not no but hell no!<BR/><BR/>Post-modern perverts like to focus on the flaws of Heroes...to somehow prove that Heroes are no better than they are. <BR/>They need that! To feel better about themselves.<BR/><BR/>They wanna disillusion you with their own illusions.<BR/>Destroy the spirit and elevate quantity.<BR/> <BR/>WTF? They sully the myth of Heroes...to conflate reality with their own delusions of grandeur.<BR/><BR/>They don't focus on the story of the Hero, the focus and exaggerate the sins of the Hero, in effect destroying the myth and destroying the story to prove that Heroes don't exist, or to prove that everyone is a hero, thus making a hero worthless and without meaning.<BR/><BR/>"Everyone is the same! Everyone is f*cked up! There aren't any heroes. No one is better than anyone else. I'm as good as any hero. Heroes were just in the right place at the right time."<BR/><BR/>Listen and see the pure, unadulterated ENVY of evil men!<BR/>They would have us believe there are no heroes...or, everyone is a hero! Until the word: hero...means nothing. <BR/><BR/>But, unlike Tina Turners song: "We don't need another hero" we do in fact, need every hero we can muster!<BR/><BR/>What exactly is to be gained by minimizing Heroes to nothing more than luck? <BR/>Self esteem? I call bullsh*t!<BR/><BR/>In reality, if we don't have Heroes, we have nothing to aspire to! <BR/>Nothing to spark our Divine imagination. <BR/>Nothing to inspire greatness and transcendence against all odds.<BR/><BR/>No. A world without Heroes is a world without hope. A world without nobility, decency, valor, honor, or higher ideals, such as protecting all that's Good, True and Beautiful!<BR/>Defending Liberty, Life and the Pursuit of Happiness!<BR/><BR/>That's what Heroes do! And that's why we need Heroes.<BR/><BR/>Outstanding post, Bob! And outstanding comments!USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32765586646409413362008-02-28T05:55:00.000-08:002008-02-28T05:55:00.000-08:00I'm still hoping Rudy can pull it out.I'm still hoping Rudy can pull it out.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33367318330464202142008-02-27T23:31:00.000-08:002008-02-27T23:31:00.000-08:00Mr Godwin, I haven't read all of your posts but am...Mr Godwin, I haven't read all of your posts but am curious which presidential candidate you have most favored this election?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-37651365269557296242008-02-27T20:16:00.000-08:002008-02-27T20:16:00.000-08:00"The mass media give us only a flattened realism d..."The mass media give us only a flattened realism devoid of reverence, depth, or dignity. Instead of heroes we have stars or celebrities, generally disreputable people such as Britney Spears, Madonna, or Paris Hilton, whose exploits we look at in the same way the ancient Greeks might have thought about their gods, who were actually not at all godlike. Rather, they were just like humans only worse -- more jealous, more envious, more lustful, more vengeful. "<BR/><BR/>I remember my Grandpa (who was an Art Director at Warner Bros from the 30's-60's) telling me why he thought radio was way better than TV, and why books were better than both, <I>"When you see these special effects, woo boy, they're snazzy, aren't they? You figure that that's just what it must really look like, right? You just know it, right? Don't wonder at all about what it might look like, do you? If you talk about that scene to your little friend next door, you talk about that scene don't cha? He repeats what he saw, and you repeat what you saw... and you both just repeated the same thing you both saw? Yeah? When I was telling you about Robin Hood yesterday, you remember what you and Lance said about Sherwood Forrest? 'I wonder how they kept their forts hidden from the Sherrif?' and 'I wonder how BIG those trees must a been?! Bigger than a building?!', even with you both sitting here with me while I was telling you!<BR/><BR/>When you see every detail, there's no room for wonder. My best set designs had lots of shadows and corner's to wonder what wasn't seen... seeing isn't believing... seeing is just seeing"</I><BR/><BR/>The more there isn't room for imagination, the more there must be replacements for it, and the rawer and more amped up it must be to register even a glance. Works in morals and true affection too; a girl wearing 5 lbs of wool sweaters and skirts used to make a boy dumb with daydreams and wonder... now wearing 5 ounces of lycra - for awhile, she'll be lucky if he's even thinking of her after he puts his clothes back on and leaves.<BR/><BR/>The more <I>Bam!</I>, the less I AM.<BR/><BR/>Cosmic law, I think.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22486668166660726892008-02-27T19:43:00.000-08:002008-02-27T19:43:00.000-08:00James said "I never really considered that too muc...James said "I never really considered that too much information can be a trap."<BR/><BR/>Yes, it is far simpler to lie if you can lay your hands on gobs of facts (think algore's endless facts and charts in 'an inconceivable truth'), the more detailed the better, but it is exceedingly difficult to lie with simple and direct and principled language. One of the reasons you won't find Horatio Alger novels assigned in classes today (we won't mention biblical stories), and why the movies, tv shows and books that do, are usually derided.<BR/><BR/>From one I did last year, <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://blogodidact.blogspot.com/2007/07/harry-potter-and-literature-for_16.html" REL="nofollow">Harry Potter and the Literature for Children vs. the Childish Literati</A><BR/>"It is simple to quote rain fall measurements and random effects of clorofloro carbons and conclude that the end is near, but it is nearly impossible to imagine a plausible lie in opposition to Dumbledore’s ‘The time is coming when we all shall have to choose between what is right and what is easy’, or Harry’s ‘We’ve got something Voldemort doesn’t have – something worth fighting for’. Difficult trying to imagine ‘Remember, what is easy is always the better choice over what is right’, or ‘Voldemort is angry, hateful, friendless, keeps followers only by the threat of destruction – wouldn’t we all prefer that kind of life to one of associating with friends, family and loved ones?” Doesn’t quite work, does it?"Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-52250035112574034692008-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:002008-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00On his radio show today, Mark Levin played a short...On his radio show today, Mark Levin played a short audio clip of the famous exchange between Buckley & the vicious Gore Vidal in 1969.<BR/><BR/>If any of you would like to listen to the exchange, click here http://www.marklevinshow.com/index1.php<BR/><BR/>Scroll down to:<BR/><BR/>Notes of Interest<BR/><BR/>William F. Buckley Jr. 1925 - 2008<BR/>William F Buckley v. Gore Vidal 1968Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-13105747008320774712008-02-27T19:14:00.000-08:002008-02-27T19:14:00.000-08:00Nomo,Two words for the robamabots,Sarah ConnorJust...Nomo,<BR/>Two words for the robamabots,<BR/><A HREF="http://www.fox.com/video/index.htm?cat_id=sarahconnor" REL="nofollow">Sarah Connor</A><BR/><BR/>Just saying.Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3694307227594320012008-02-27T16:05:00.000-08:002008-02-27T16:05:00.000-08:00Among the myriad of valid accolades the late WFB i...Among the myriad of valid accolades the late WFB is receiving, I think the greatest is that he was simply the most gracious, kindest person that those who were acquainted with him had ever met. <BR/><BR/>I think of WFB as being the divine aspect of a trio whose heyday was in the 60's, 70's - WFB, Norman Mailer, and Gore Vidal.<BR/><BR/>Mailer seemed to be flirting with the Good Side, but was fascinated with and often seduced, by evil. The Undecided Vote, so to speak.<BR/><BR/>The decadent Vidal was, still is, an unrepentent, outspoken atheist, commited to the task of reducing human beings to intelligent animals. He had to exist as the necessary dark counterpart to the liberating light that was WFB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-69348249537409403772008-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:002008-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:00>>The mass media give us only a flattened realism ...>>The mass media give us only a flattened realism devoid of reverence, depth, or dignity<<<BR/><BR/>I think that unless there is the superimposition of divine imagination, vision, physical vision is the most "corruptible" of the senses - material vision draws us to the external, certainly more so than does our aural sense. <BR/><BR/>I'm thinking of William Blake whose material vision was certainly keen - he was a painter and engraver as well as poet - but who literally saw with divine imagination, angels walking across the Thames, for example, or the "soul of a mosquito", which he literally saw and then painted (pretty ugly soul, by the way)<BR/><BR/>I think video and its ubiquity is particularly without mythic, imaginative depth. Even black and white 16 millimeter conjured up the sense of a certain mythic, reverential distance. And the old black and white movies are still, I think, somehow more "real" than most of today's films. Video, however: there's no "bounce back", no resonance at all. It's sallow and sweaty - like a long day waiting in line under the sickly fluorescent lights of the Department of Motor Vehicles center.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66939990000146804312008-02-27T15:38:00.000-08:002008-02-27T15:38:00.000-08:00I'd like to offer a couple of true heroes that I'v...I'd like to offer a couple of true heroes that I've come across recently: Edmund Campion, an English Jesuit who died for his faith in 1581, hanged, drawn and quartered; and Fr. Vincent Capodanno, another Catholic priest, who was killed in action serving with the Marines in Vietnam in 1967; Fr. Capodanno was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and is now being considered for sainthood; there is a biography of him with the title Grunt Padre.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18964619666854084372008-02-27T15:18:00.000-08:002008-02-27T15:18:00.000-08:00I read David Warren first today. Sometimes the im...I read David Warren first today. Sometimes the important big picture is glimpsed by several at the same time. GB, VDH, and Warren along with others keep hammering away at transcendent values. Yup, youse guys are onto the real deal. Keep on keeping on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-2099026964323693352008-02-27T13:46:00.000-08:002008-02-27T13:46:00.000-08:00Snips from an interview of VDH by a Swiss newspape...Snips from an interview of VDH by a Swiss newspaper:<BR/><BR/>JF: Europeans like to cast the European Union less as a kind of United States of Europe but rather as a precursor to a “one world” utopia.<BR/><BR/>VDH: Europe is to be commended for creating a structure that avoided a third world war. But its present notion of utopia — minimal defense, socialism, atheism and agnosticism, continental governance — is a prescription for disaster. When the individual believes in nothing transcendent, has no allegiance to a notion of nationhood, and believes nothing is worth sacrificing for, stasis sets in, lethargy follows, and an effete citizenry becomes as vocal in condemnation as it is impotent in matching deed with word.<BR/><BR/>JF: How much political significance do you ascribe to religious faith? If so, what does this mean for Europe, which — speaking honestly — is a completely secularized region in the grip of rationalism?<BR/><BR/>VDH: Religious belief means transcendence, or the notion you are living for something greater than yourself. Atheism means this is it — so why have children, invest in your country, or sacrifice your health for abstractions like your country?<BR/><BR/>Everyone needs a god; Europeans have turned their backs on the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and adopted in its place a Rousseau or Foucault as totems. Atheism is bad enough when it worships the Calf of Pure Reason, but when logic and rationalism are themselves replaced by postmodern relativism, then the loss of god, and the trade off become an even worse deal.<BR/><BR/>"The Future with Europe"<BR/>http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/<BR/>hanson022708.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-45104098612833518472008-02-27T12:43:00.000-08:002008-02-27T12:43:00.000-08:00A little note about William F. Buckley, Jr.:Commen...A little note about William F. Buckley, Jr.:<BR/><BR/>Commenters here have made references to "The Remnant," usually in the context mentioned in a recent <A HREF="http://freedomlaw.com/isaiah.htm" REL="nofollow">link</A> that I believe Julie provided. Albert Jay Nock's description has seemed to intrigue some Raccoons.<BR/><BR/>FYI, among his group of friends, and a member of the original Remnant, was Buckley's father, William F. Buckley, Sr.walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88694849556536939092008-02-27T12:11:00.000-08:002008-02-27T12:11:00.000-08:00David Warren has some well written words that touc...David Warren has some well written words that touch on these and similar matters <A HREF="http://www.davidwarrenonline.com/" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-7146322692652054392008-02-27T12:02:00.000-08:002008-02-27T12:02:00.000-08:00"...in order to be a real hero, you must essential..."...in order to be a real hero, you must essentially be unreal."<BR/><BR/>Well, Sandy Koufax was <I>unreal.</I> He was left-handed and I was left-handed, so I identified with him <I>personally,</I> if you catch my drift.<BR/><BR/>You could argue it wasn't just "idealism," because the Dodgers were never the same without him in the lineup. I recall thinking when I heard he'd retired, "Can't they just fix it?"<BR/><BR/>Sheesh: first Koufax, now WFB - <I>heroes,</I> dropping away!walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91031612262343033452008-02-27T11:08:00.000-08:002008-02-27T11:08:00.000-08:00Speaking of imagination and robamabots, here is th...Speaking of imagination and robamabots, here is the latest <A HREF="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080227111811.y9syyq8p&show_article=1" REL="nofollow">threat.</A><BR/><BR/>Thankfully, there is <A HREF="http://www.robotmarketplace.com/video_oldglory_hi.html" REL="nofollow">protection</A>.<BR/><BR/>Sorry, I couldn’t resist.<BR/>(Note to self – resist, resist!)NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-20976266541806629622008-02-27T11:03:00.000-08:002008-02-27T11:03:00.000-08:00I never really considered that too much informatio...I never really considered that too much information can be a trap. I've always looked at it in terms of information overload, as in you just can assimilate and process everything in time to make a reasonable decision. The idea that information overload can effectively hide the truth strikes me as valid. It is insidious. The media can't lie, because a lie is too easy to catch, but cluttering things up with unnecessary detail can still serve the lie, but it is much harder to figure out what's going on. <BR/> This highlights the importance of principles, because they can serve as signposts on the golden road that rise above the complexity of day-to-day life. If you have your principles and a course of action violates those principles then you know where you stand regardless of the details of the situation. There may still be some gray area with principles, but without principles you have vast and hoary ocean of gray where elemental things like good and evil get lost in the details. <BR/> That would explain a whole lot of bad judgment, and why people without principles can be scary.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03149296283560293988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71304265691116059012008-02-27T10:24:00.000-08:002008-02-27T10:24:00.000-08:00Hey, even the "New Castrati" has spoken out on Oba...Hey, even the "New Castrati" has spoken out on Obama.<BR/>Directly fron the mouth of the Neuter;<BR/>"So we’re not embarrassed when we get together. We just talk about how much we love Obama. ... We know we’re being fooled, but we kind of like it. I can’t get off his ride, it’s too good.” —Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein<BR/><BR/>I'd like to once again thank Ms. Stein for inadvertently getting me to this blogsite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com