tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6862776944621616650..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: The Birds & the 'BatsGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-62007621762077375062013-05-15T08:37:51.429-07:002013-05-15T08:37:51.429-07:00RC:
I see your point also. People must work if th...RC:<br /><br />I see your point also. People must work if they want good quality of life, and the environment created by the type and size of government has an effect on how well people can meet their needs for productive and fulfilling work without becoming numbed by the requirements of production-style work.<br /><br />The awake person living in these climes and times is subject to all of this awfulness and/or opportunity and reacts by nonattachment; all of the waves and shocks of life are observed and felt but they do not have more emotional significance than what type of weather is happening on any given day. It is a given that humanity must labor to eat and thrive and the exact type and nature of each's efforts must be worked out. Suffering of course will occur in profusion no matter what. <br /><br />People in government jobs are not the government "per se." They expend their 8 hours of attention trying to coordinte the collective, for better or for worse. It is a type of labor. Legislators are basically consultants to the collective.<br /><br />Each cell of the mass has an equal significance. The amount of consumer goods each cell consumes is not significant. After death it all returns to the closed system of the cosmos anyway.Open Trenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354412002318534131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-45656923324528428542013-05-15T07:55:48.138-07:002013-05-15T07:55:48.138-07:00OT:
I understand your point here... the point I&#...OT:<br /><br />I understand your point here... the point I'm trying to get at then, generally, is that free time is not freedom, or rather, isn't Liberty. Men who slave all day and drink it away at the pub (as Chesterton suggests) are in a 'generous' tyranny. It would seem that the better the 'distraction' is, the more welcome it is, so long as it doesn't affect the work. <br /><br />Note that mass capitalism is not right wing, it is entirely neutral if not slightly left wing if simply because it is populist in the meanest sort of way; whether it 'supports' or 'undermines' tradition and prosperity all has to do with the culture of the mass - which in our recent history is thoroughly left-wing. <br /><br />Small scale capitalism is different, much the same way the structural differences between a mega-government and a local government *can* (but may not necessarily) make all the difference in how they are actually run.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Guys, I've got a name for the scandal cascade - <b>Chain Lightning.</b>Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-8250611036921590012013-05-14T08:46:40.501-07:002013-05-14T08:46:40.501-07:00RC wrote:
"Your suggestion of the 'freed...RC wrote:<br /><br />"Your suggestion of the 'freedom' of the Indian worker is precisely the ersatz license - a shallow form of 'when we're done with you, you may piddle about as you please' which the left ultimately considers 'freedom' to be. Recreational drug use such as MJ fits remarkably well into this little 'freedom bubble'.<br /><br />RC, I do not understand. I do not see where an Indian laborer, such as a rickshaw driver, is any different from an American CEO, or even the President.<br /><br />All men pay attention to some business matter for part of the day, and as far as what business is paid attention to, if it is done with a attitude of love and service, there is no slavery.<br /><br />Piddling about in one's free time is not mediated by others. Each person is responsible for the expenditure of their own free time irrespective of what some interest my like one to do. Control is firmly with the individual. MJ is equivalent to beer, so that element of the statement is pretty wide.<br /><br />That's how I parse it anyhoo. <br /><br /><br /><br />Open Trenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354412002318534131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-55959730894519710442013-05-14T07:57:31.034-07:002013-05-14T07:57:31.034-07:00We need an open thread.
In any even, Obama has ap...We need an open thread.<br /><br />In any even, Obama has apparently now lost Jon Stewart.<br /><br />From...Salon:<br /><br />http://www.salon.com/2013/05/14/obamas_cronkite_moment/<br /><br />Nixon had paranoid qualities, which were somewhat helpful in his time as President, but ultimately did him in because he didn't have the sense to deal with his Watergate problem appropriately. He *could* have salvaged himself.<br /><br />Obama has narcissistic qualities, which are clearly not helping him at all at this point. He's *incapable* of salvaging his Presidency.<br /><br />Obama lacks the inherent actual political skill of Nixon, who was extremely talented as far as presidents go.<br /><br />Obama is an amateur hack without either domestic or international skills.<br /><br />I'm still not feeling any emotional resonance with Mr. Obama, except for the sense that I'm listening to fingernails on a chalkboard every once in awhile.<br /><br />I don't even dislike him. I just want his term to end so that he goes away.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11126071014909954387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85854678776381817092013-05-14T05:20:35.065-07:002013-05-14T05:20:35.065-07:00Re obama makes nixon look clean..
Too true. As i ...Re obama makes nixon look clean.. <br />Too true. As i predicted on this blog, obama is starting to trip himself up with his hubris. Wonder how his court eunuchs in the msm are going to get him out of this . Benghazi plus the Irs scandal ... the republicans need to go forthe kill, nothing less will work with the demonocrats. We are past politness now, politness is ok in polite society but not with demonic freaks. <br />Juleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10119193175145977768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33677888862951951032013-05-13T12:36:00.924-07:002013-05-13T12:36:00.924-07:00I just found a new official beer. Thanks, Julie!
...I just found a new official beer. Thanks, Julie!<br /><br />Coincidentally, speaking of bat wings and angels, my daughter asked me about nightmares last night. It seems she walked in on my sons, who were watching an episode of Dr. Who. "Weeping angels," etc.<br /><br />Isn't it just like the caustic Brits to associate angels with demons and death.<br /><br />So I told her about guardian angels, who are just waiting for her to ask for help. Powerful angels! "They must be happy," she said, "because they see God all the time."Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-6730112233603373062013-05-11T18:08:15.906-07:002013-05-11T18:08:15.906-07:00Brother Thelonius Beer.<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2013/05/11/a-second-favorite-beer/" rel="nofollow">Brother Thelonius Beer</a>.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43130855298143334902013-05-10T14:32:14.090-07:002013-05-10T14:32:14.090-07:00Also...
Merciful God. This administration makes N...Also...<br /><br />Merciful God. This administration makes Nixon look clean. Seriously. Warren Harding is clapping somewhere...Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-77373426358681879122013-05-10T10:27:59.237-07:002013-05-10T10:27:59.237-07:00Also, as per Chesterton:
The two sinister things ...Also, as per Chesterton:<br /><br /><i>The two sinister things can be seen side by side in the system of Bolshevist Russia; for Communism is the only complete and logical working model of Capitalism. The sins are there a system which are everywhere else a sort of repeated blunder. From the first, it is admitted, that the whole system was directed towards encouraging or driving the worker to spend his wages; to have nothing left on the next pay day; to enjoy everything and consume everything and efface everything; in short, to shudder at the thought of only one crime; the creative crime of thrift. It was a tame extravagance; a sort of disciplined dissipation; a meek and submissive prodigality. For the moment the slave left off drinking all his wages, the moment he began to hoard or hide any property, he would be saving up something which might ultimately purchase his liberty. He might begin to count for something in the State; that is, he might become less of a slave and more of a citizen. Morally considered, there has been nothing quite so unspeakably mean as this Bolshevist generosity. But it will be noted that exactly the same spirit and tone pervades the manner of dealing with the other matter.</i><br /><br />Your suggestion of the 'freedom' of the Indian worker is precisely the ersatz <i>license</i> - a shallow form of 'when we're done with you, you may piddle about as you please' which the left ultimately considers 'freedom' to be. Recreational drug use such as MJ fits remarkably well into this little 'freedom bubble'.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63927353215042654972013-05-10T08:39:14.629-07:002013-05-10T08:39:14.629-07:00By definition, the prole is one who has no wealth ...By definition, the prole is one who has no wealth but the sale of the sweat of his back; if we should, through specialization, reach such a point, we will be drawn into the mob as only via the mob can we keep secure our 'right to work.'<br /><br />In our nation, that mob is known as 'the unions.'<br /><br />We can only be glad that this mob only demands the right to work and be paid for it; but it will naturally move towards simply demanding things by virtue of its strength - it's numbers.<br /><br />Such is what a strike is; pure herd mentality.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33643281916200617422013-05-09T14:44:13.972-07:002013-05-09T14:44:13.972-07:00RC wrote:
"...a combination of socialism and...RC wrote:<br /><br />"...a combination of socialism and mass capitalism swallow up the common person's patrimony, forcing him into the situation of having no wealth but the sale of his labor, and now being a proletariat, he must sink into the mob."<br /><br />Does being a worker consign one to sink into a mob? We all work but I would guess none of us feels exactly pressed into a mob.<br /><br />Conditions may have been more like that in certain climes and times, notably last century, but I don't think the prevailing consciousness runs that way anymore. I could be wrong.<br /><br />One can imagine a dim mass of oppressed and benighted workers exist but in reality even unskilled laborers probably don't get forced into any kind of unpleasant conformity, unless they somehow desire it. After their shift is over they can do what they please.<br /><br />That goes for even swarming democracies like India. Open Trenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354412002318534131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-76303406717348233512013-05-09T09:34:22.988-07:002013-05-09T09:34:22.988-07:00Here's a student who gets the problem with pub...<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xsoLIpRmQTw" rel="nofollow">Here's</a> a student who gets the problem with public education. tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07354048695798015131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23115496575256384212013-05-09T09:28:35.341-07:002013-05-09T09:28:35.341-07:00Perhaps the tentacles of the great Elder District ...Perhaps the tentacles of the great Elder District will turn on her and devour her whole.<br /><br />The rest of us try not to look on; try not to get the attention of the Thing...<br /><br />Meanwhile, a combination of socialism and mass capitalism swallow up the common person's patrimony, forcing him into the situation of having no wealth but the sale of his labor, and now being a proletariat, he must sink into the mob.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32480578552228875632013-05-08T15:56:15.833-07:002013-05-08T15:56:15.833-07:00so, Benghazi: deserving heads please roll!
that &...so, Benghazi: deserving heads please roll!<br /><br />that 'shadowy character' who made the video & is in jail: may as well be tom cruise-- funny if he turns out to be a paid actor who aint in no jail, but a complete fabrication of the twisted admin.! a hex on that damn hillary, may she get comeuppedgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02015936407999495181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-17007060989474299242013-05-08T15:50:58.841-07:002013-05-08T15:50:58.841-07:00Is it not best to keep things simple?
Just you an...Is it not best to keep things simple?<br /><br />Just you and Basic Goodness. That is all.<br /><br />However, if you enjoy a relationship with an angel, so be it. Open Trenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354412002318534131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-74458970962992248252013-05-08T10:32:27.168-07:002013-05-08T10:32:27.168-07:00For your amusement: A classic twitter exchange be...For your amusement: <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/08/meghan-mccain-vs-iowahawk-dare-to-take-a-guess/" rel="nofollow">A classic twitter exchange between Iowahawk and Meghan McCain.</a> After McCain complained that "Mark Sanford is what is wrong with American politics". <br /><br />@meghanmccain if it wasn’t for politicians cheating on their wives, you wouldn’t exist. — David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 8, 2013<br /><br />Like taking Miss Piggy down to the big barbeque.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-78833853331416923622013-05-08T06:58:50.792-07:002013-05-08T06:58:50.792-07:00I like that, River:
Just make a place for souls ...I like that, River:<br /><br /><i> Just make a place for souls to be</i>...<br /><br />Yes, just so.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-25695905615753585082013-05-08T06:47:31.637-07:002013-05-08T06:47:31.637-07:00This a good one here, short but sweet.
I like the...This a good one here, <a href="http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/the-soundminded-schizophrenic-living-in-the-just-nowness/" rel="nofollow">short but sweet</a>.<br /><br />I like the term <em>Moderni</em> for the liberal-progressive types. Also the idea of Post-modernity as not just a reaction or surpassing of modernity, but in many ways just an intensification of it.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42048301601673246372013-05-07T06:11:12.476-07:002013-05-07T06:11:12.476-07:00Thankfully, I found this LA Times article so I kno...Thankfully, I found this LA Times article so I know I wasn't the only one imagining things:<br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-rectify-20130422,0,5014226.story" rel="nofollow">Review: 'Rectify' is a revelation that sets a new standard</a>Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23066387049172167812013-05-07T06:08:21.427-07:002013-05-07T06:08:21.427-07:00Open Line Off Topic:
There is a new series on the...Open Line Off Topic:<br /><br />There is a new series on the Sundance Channel, called Rectify. It's quite good. I'm encouraged lately to see deep undercurrents running through, of all things, television shows. The main character offers a unique twist on a Christ figure. Perfect casting for him. He says hardly anything. Most of what he conveys is done with facial expressions. The third episode last night had brief conversations between characters on the subjects of free will, St Thomas Aquinas, The Divine Comedy, Aristotle, Flannery O'Connor.<br />A few ugly parts but also some very beautiful, mystical parts. Great cinematography, score, and pace.<br /><br />The full premier episode (2hrs) is here:<br /><a href="http://www.sundancechannel.com/series/rectify/videos/rectify-2-hour-premiere-full-episode" rel="nofollow">Rectify</a>Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-16626758646835619252013-05-06T19:42:23.353-07:002013-05-06T19:42:23.353-07:00Sometimes I long for a mystical experience.
Then...Sometimes I long for a mystical experience. <br /><br />Then I fault myself for lack of perspicuity.<br /><br />Nostalgia crowds in: I remember periods of peace and grace, when I was clearly in the zOne.<br /><br />All of this has to do with love, since love occurs nowhere but in the mundane.<br /><br />Still, how cool would it be to touch the fire of an Angel and not have to depend on one's faith, if just for a moment.<br /><br />What sort of desire is this? Is it a kind of spiritual porn? Or is it just an admission that real love is a leap, a faith, a work, a hope.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00987042455512485699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23115756064586593472013-05-06T13:54:02.695-07:002013-05-06T13:54:02.695-07:00Ah, chaos. I'm glad it's only that. May th...Ah, chaos. I'm glad it's only that. May the s'lack be with you.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30026947985861630302013-05-06T13:10:25.359-07:002013-05-06T13:10:25.359-07:00You might say I have nothing to say and no time to...You might say I have nothing to say and no time to say it anyway, and I don't really enjoy recycling stuff, so there you are. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-65600276145228678682013-05-06T13:09:06.734-07:002013-05-06T13:09:06.734-07:00Thanks for your concern, but the fire probably nev...Thanks for your concern, but the fire probably never got closer than 10-15 miles, so there was no danger. Just too busy and chaotic around here to post -- I'll probably need to take an official hiatus of indeterminate length. Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-48766872264466050872013-05-06T13:02:06.115-07:002013-05-06T13:02:06.115-07:00Also, excellent food for thought in this post. Also, excellent food for thought in this post. USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.com