Well, folks, everything is up for grabs. What if Trumpola, or Schmernie, get the coronavirus? Or if 1/3 of the American population does? What if Schmernie gets elected, and there is a military coup, restoring Trumpi to power? What if Tulsi makes a killing in exercise tapes, and becomes a combo president/fitness guru? So many possibilities!
But in these uncertain times, Wafers know one thing for sure: at some unspecified point in time, perhaps 2040, the US will be no more. Inside the US there will be weeping and wailing. Outside, rejoicing and celebration. For some odd reason, we are not the most beloved nation on earth.
Meanwhile, on the short story front, things are progressing swiftly. Altho for the sake of sales, I'm thinking of changing the name of the book to
LeBron James Confronts Harvey Weinstein. Can't lose w/that,
n'est-ce pas?
As the country heads down the drain, your typical Wafer will sit next to the fireplace, new Berman book in hand, and (to quote T.S. Eliot) laugh like an irresponsible fetus. (See "Mr. Apollinax")
Exciting times, amigos-
mb
Doctor Berman,
ReplyDeleteIn one of your talks you have quoted an expert economist as saying that the next big financial crash, a la 2008, will happen sometime between 2019 and 2021. And then the Wipeout Crash will happen in 2025 or 2026. ( That would be perfect lucky timing for Don the Con Trump to walk away looking like, as he often calls himself, “a winner, ” if he gets reelected. LOL)
Do you think this corona virus is the catalyst for this “next crash, 2008-style”?
https://www.ccn.com/dow-plunge-800-points-now-comes-the-25-crash/
Bernie Schmernie is Right!
ReplyDeleteMB/Wafers:
Documentary essay that is Wafers material....
Guardians of the Amazon (Full Documentary)
< Deep in the Amazon rainforest, armed tribesmen who call themselves the “Guardians of the Forest" battle illegal loggers in the fight against deforestation. >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdTAbgPQuNI
So depressing but looks at the evil headlong.
To complement the contributions from Liam (under previous topic), WAFers may find this website of interest:
ReplyDeleteCoronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE (Center for Systems Science and Engineering)
(Chart developed by Johns Hopkins and the Applied Physics Lab)
Site updates throughout the day, as data becomes available.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
An argument for the NMI if I’ve ever seen one. Inside good, outside iffy.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteNot sure what role the virus will play in the political arena. For all we know, it might just fizzle out. But as for economic predictions: a # of reliable scholars have said that all indications are for major irreversible collapse sometime during 2025-30. America will look v. different 10 yrs from now, it seems to me.
Rome died the "death of 1000 cuts," but there were "nodes" punctuating the decline, like the sack of Rome in A.D. 410. We seem to be following a similar pattern. 9/11 was one node; 2008 another; Trumpi's election in 2016, yet another. The general daily feeling in a collapsing empire is more one of disintegration than sudden collapse, and I think most Americans feel that slow increasing erosion every day. Put another way, for most Americans life is not fulfilling--it's actually fairly depressing and oppressive--and the Crap Index is worse every day. Progs have one solution, Trumpites another; but in reality, there is no solution. The Schmernie phenomenon is just grasping at straws. Diagnosis is terminal cancer, period.
mb
Mb,
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting about the wbole Bernie thing is that what he is proposing is essentially an attempt to save Capitalism, rather than actually change it. In other words, he wants the American Dream for all, and yet the country is so fucked that even these reforms are a bridge too far. Imagine if he actually criticized the American Dream, and suggested it is actually horrible?
Xair-
ReplyDeleteInasmuch as the American people are extremely stupid, most of them see FDR as a socialist. But the consensus among American historians is that the historical role of Roosevelt was to save capitalism by creating some breathing rm for it, and that he was successful in that attempt. Bernie is trying to do the same thing; he's really no different at all. However, to be a serious socialist is not nec = to criticizing the American Dream. The latter is degrowthism, or austerity (living well on less). Socialism means that the state holds the means of production, and that the wealth--wh/can only be generated by capitalist practice--is distributed fairly among all. (The USSR tried to do this, but failed, in that among other things, they still generated a favored class, or elite. Hence, "Animal Farm"--all pigs equal, but some more equal than others.) This is to be accomplished by things such as worker-controlled factories, workers' coops, 'soviets', and so on.
What FDR told the elite, given the potential revolutionary context of the 30s, was: Either you give up a little, or you'll have to give all of it up. So they gave up a little, and we got programs like Social Security; but the rich were never happy w/this, and did their best to unravel the New Deal; wh/over the years, they succeeded, at least in part.
We have no revolutionary context today, by a long shot, and Bernie can hardly say the same thing to the upper 1%; they wd just laugh. If he did become president, he wd try to initiate what are really (from a European pt of view, e.g.) mild reforms; but as you say, for brain-damaged Americans even that wd be a bridge too far. And the capitalists are not really interested in saving capitalism, a la FDR, because they are greedy, and dumb. German economist Wolfgang Streeck has written some astute stuff abt this, and I've quoted him in my work.
No politician can seriously criticize the American Dream, or even pt out the obvious fact that growth is not the solution, but the problem. No politician--certainly not in the US--can argue for degrowth, or austerity, and get elected or remain in office. Such a platform wd be political suicide. Hence, the sustainable society will be forced on us, inch by inch, because in reality we don't have any other long-term options. (Only Germany has been able to come up with a viable Green Party, with seats in Parliament.) Just consider how the "Limits to Growth" report was vilified when it 1st appeared in 1972. Meanwhile, most of its predictions proved to be accurate.
What Wafers enjoy is seeing that 329 million dolts can't grasp the obvious. We watch these people w/their heads up their asses, rolling around like donuts, yelling 'Bernie' or 'Biden' or 'Any Shmuck', and we shake our heads. But we are amused. We sigh, take out the latest Berman book (short stories soon to appear, amigos), sip a fine Italian or Spanish wine, and think abt a post-election trip to Hawaii, to give Tulsi's shoes a gd soaking. In the midst of consummate stupidity, we manage to enjoy ourselves.
mb
Sorry MB, sent my last comment to an older post. Was a mistake.
ReplyDeleteFirst, would like to thank Sandy for sharing the piece by MLK. Got a new avenue into the human capacity to do great evil. Can anyone suggest what would be a good point to start reading Reinhold Niebhur so that I get his essential ideas?
In the meantime, trump ended his India tour yesterday. Had a spat with a CNN reporter who claimed CNN is doing better than Trump at delivering the truth. While Trump was in Delhi, the city burnt. Muslim houses and businesses were attacked and burnt by riotous mobs for three days while allegedly police looked on. Even ambulances were not allowed to carry the injured in some places till the court intervened. 10+ dead, ~100 injured so far. Our way of telling Trump how to treat your minorities.
In this backdrop, trump visited Gandhi's ashram (monetary would be closest, but not quite). Signed a note for his pal Modi. But no mention of Gandhi, who is beyond Trump's comprehension, needless to say. Signed $3 billion defense deal with India (more muscle flexing on this side), and declared that the stock markets will boom if he wins.
A good campaign at our expense in the end.
A terrific profile of Hélène Landemore and the innovative ways in which she is trying to rethink democracy for the 21st century. Profile of one PrincetonUPress's political philosophers.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newyorker.com/news/the-future-of-democracy/politics-without-politicians
"One figure on the 2020 stage, then unknown, stood apart [in 1980] by joining a Marxist-Leninist party that not only pledged support for the Iranian theocracy, but also justified the hostage taking by insisting the hostages were all likely CIA agents."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/when-iran-took-americans-hostage-bernie-backed-irans-defenders
Schmernie is right
not from the Onion:
ReplyDeleteClassics faculty proposes removal of Homer and Virgil from Mods Syllabus
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2020/02/17/94749/
Ha! Just try to say "Bernie Schmernie" around here and you'll get hummus thrown in your face...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks Liam for your post in the previous thread. I have an expensive autoimmune disease so I gotta watch out for things like COVID-19. But, IMHO Amerikkka is too spread out for it to get too bad here.
My kind of art show, and a rare (meaning good) review here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/youve-probably-never-heard-of-these-artists-but-they-painted-reality-in-a-way-weve-lost-sight-of/2020/02/24/64366ee8-54d7-11ea-b119-4faabac6674f_story.html
if anyone is in the DC area, it looks worth going. Paging Bill Hicks?
Where’s Tulsi?
ReplyDeleteCommentatators are already writing obits for the Gabbard presidential campaign, such as this one where she is described as “inscrutable to the last”:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/14/tulsi-gabbard-a-political-postmortem/
Meanwhile, she’s campaigning in Utah:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/presidential-candidate-tulsi-gabbard-campaigning-in-utah-this-weekend/ar-BB10b4Et
Her one-day Utah stop compels me to wonder how soon the single volume of Tulsism will join the Mittaic Philosophy in the dusty bottom bookshelf of history.
Thankfully, her unique legacy will be the dance Wafers can continue in her memory, the Wah-Tulsi.
Yeah, this is the way I want to go out - playing a video game on my fone while my car crashes itself into a concrete barrier! What a dumbshit...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51645566
This Atlantic article lays out the Coronavirus threat very well. Every flu season from now on is likely to be a flu *and* CV season—something at once fearful and oddly reassuring:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/02/covid-vaccine/607000/?utm_source=feedp&fbclid=IwAR2ZeCZk-S9U1epYdbXr_iXb33Pnx2XEGnc0672mhlFH_iHYU6XiHdhPiZw
Hi Dr. Berman and Wafers:
ReplyDeleteInteresting opinion piece on Crypto AG, a Swiss encryption company owned by the CIA and West German (and I assume German) intelligence, that sold encryption tools to governments of 123 countries and thereby the CIA could access confidential communications of those governments. Apparently this CIA operation lasted from around 1970 to 2018 and only recently was reported in the Washington Post. Notably, Russia and China were both suspicious of Crypto AG and never bought encryption tools but rather made up their own. Robert Sheer interviews William Binney (a former employee of the NSA and the CIA) about this CIA operation; Binney brings up the Manichaean outlook of the US government's opinion of their own actions in the world versus the actions of other countries.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/53030.htm
US Corporate pep talk bullshit artist from an: "abundance curator, "innovation disruptor," and "thought leader" who appears to be in lust with technology. It's likely very lucrative (honoraria) to give motivational crapola to the debt serfs.
ReplyDelete"I don’t go to libraries anymore. Some people do, maybe for quiet. It’s Google! When something is 10 times better, 10 times cheaper, 10 times faster, you give up the old system.”
@peterdiamandis"
Now, that's a true American. A modern day snake oil salesman and dumber than stale dog shit (Berman).
Dr. Berman, please accept my apologies for breaking the 24h rule; however, would like to add to my former post:
ReplyDeletethe corporate pep talk guy has degrees from MIT and Harvard; thus again reinforcing that just because one has formal "education" and "degrees" does not bestow intelligence or wisdom. He's dumb as shit.
Any1 heard of the Michael Moore documentary 'Sicko'? It looks @ healthcare in Amerikkka & some other nations. It even includes that stat which places Amerikkka @ #37 in the WHO list. Kinda puts this whole sick-care system to shame.
ReplyDeleteFor some much needed humor check out this satirical site Teens for Mayor Pete www.teens4pete.com
ReplyDeleteTechnology Won’t Save Us: Why Promethean Problems Can’t Have Promethean Solutions, via Eidolon Journal https://eidolon.pub/technology-wont-save-us-1342a1d8163d
ReplyDeleteThe meme and The Daily Beast opinion column about Schmernie and the Iran hostage crisis appear to be false and misleading. Details here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bernie-sanders-iran-hostage-crisis/
«We did not find any public statements by Sanders on the subject of the Iran hostage crisis, so the claim that he expressed support for Khomeini was false, and a clear case of “guilt by association” with the utterances of Pulley and the SWP being transferred on to Sanders because of his links to both.
A spokesperson for Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign indicated he was opposed to SWP policy on Iran at that time, telling Snopes: “Senator Sanders did not think the hostages were spies nor did he support their captivity. Any suggestion otherwise is nonsense.”»
Regardless, he’s still a Schmernie. As a random aside, googling and duckduckgoing Schmernie now takes you straight to this blog. This holds true even in a fresh private browser window.
Of Course he did...Why wouldn’t he after being Crushed and Destroyed by the System in 2020 America.
ReplyDeletehttps://abcnews.go.com/US/milwaukee-police-respond-active-shooting-millercoors-office-building/story?id=69239894
With all the attention on the coronavirus, there is little news on the latest mass shooting in the United States. Today's daily occurrence happened up north in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But instead of the average of 4 shot dead, today's was 7; that's a little above the mean for any Wafers who are statisticians and would like to determine the standard deviation.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/02/26/acritical-incident-reported-molsoncoors-milwaukee-campus/4884534002/
Hola a los Waferes,
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying this week in a big way with the long awaited arrival of the three horsemen of the apocalypse. The Dow down turn we've seen off in the distance for some time, now delivering the godfather's kiss to captain dumpty. Close behind, the corona virus kid, with a possible knockout punch to the orange one. And bringing up the rear, the appaloosa of the apollo theatre of politics. It's getting really good here, way down yonder in the land of cotton candy.
Can we finish off the week with another 2,000 point correction? Dare we hope?
O&D!
Michael Lind has an article on American Caesarism and its limits. Lind argues that despite the rise of messianic political figures they are still limited by American institutions. Even if somebody like Bernie Sanders wins the presidency they probably won’t be able to produce a large amount of change even if they want to.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/299418/american-caesars
"What liberal humanists believe to be universal values are relics of particular religious traditions. Here Nietzsche was right. Human values are too changeable, & too divergent, for morality to be in any meaningful sense objective" - John Gray
ReplyDeleteIndeed! https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2020/02/search-soul-john-cottingham-review
Fascinating. A professor at the University of Nevada has conducted a major study, published in the Journal of International Psychology, which provides hard scientic evidence for a hypothesis long suspected by laypeople: Drivers of expensive cars are more dangerous to pedestrians
ReplyDeleteA study suggests wealthier drivers are less likely to give way at zebra crossings
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/drivers-of-expensive-cars-are-more-dangerous-to-pedestrians-m0nbmzk80
Curious--what exactly do those supporting Schmernie, really see in him? He can't do anything-it's simply words/puppet show.
ReplyDeleteThe US empire is what it is. A war mongering, imperialist "country"/corporation run and supported by hucksters and hustlers. All of a sudden, after 400yrs+, Schmernie is gonna help the US do a 180?
Talk abt mental illness/brain damage.
MB, have u gotten hold of some opioids yet? U can join millions of defeated amerikkkans all across the land in this gr8 mind-killing experience! So what are u waiting 4? Get onboard the Big Pharma express;)
ReplyDeleteFlying-
ReplyDeleteI start my day with a cocktail of Prozac, Haldol, Xanax, Stelazine, Thorazine, and corn flakes. Literally nothing bothers me.
mb
Flying&Morris-
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Hunter S Thompson's regiment. No coke?
Checking in from warm, sunny and lovely San Francisco, where 8000 travelers from China have landed at SF Airport since Feb 3rd, and in nearby Sonoma County we just had the nation's first case of "community spread" CoVid, which cannot be traced to any traveler or known patient. The fact that this patient did not get CoVid from a known source, means that it's branching out - one could technically catch it from anyone - and I daresay that more than a few of us here are trying hard not to get coughed on right now.
ReplyDeleteThe city seems fulgent with suspense. We have a pre-emptive state of emergency in effect, so someone apparently thinks that the dominoes might start to fall right here! Maybe, like Milan, we'll go from patient zero to lockdown in four days, but their hospital infection controls were poor, which sent things downhill fast. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-22/italy-to-ban-travel-for-certain-virus-affected-areas-conte-says) Our hospital infection controls are outstanding - but most people without Cadillac insurance won't care to go anywhere near a hospital until it's time to be intubated, I'm guessing? I suppose things could get weird.
Anyway, Mike Pence is in charge of U.S. emergency response, and if that doesn't tell Americans to bend over and grab ankles, I don't know what would, so let's hope things work out. It's America, after all (ahahahahaha!) Stay tuned everyone!
"In Dalton, Georgia, [...] Bible that its owner said had been supernaturally generating oil since Trump’s inauguration—more than 400 gallons in 3 years. "
ReplyDeletehttps://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/oil-bible-dalton-georgia-trump-prophecy-evangelical-miracle.amp
Beyond the insanity this is a fascinating and well researched investigative report into 20-C charismatic revival movements and the mindset of a cult. It's all very Late-Rome-like.
MB, I'm glad you're sticking to the clean pharmaceuticals. The thought of you shooting fentanyl in a public toilet gives me horrors.
ReplyDeleteI'm in bed with a flu bug right now. Since the US seems to be operating on a "don't test, don't tell" policy, how could I know if this is just the Flu B that's pummeling the midwest or the killer WuHanFwu? If I don't check back in a week the worst has happened. I'll see if I can find our Mr. Hicks...
LOL. Mike Pence in charge of controlling a potential epidemic. This is the man who in 2000 said that smoking doesn't kill. Later opposed needle exchanges and saw HIV run rampant.
ReplyDeleteOne more step down the hill. We'll bottom out eventually, when there is no lower to go.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/27/mike-pence-coronavirus-response-experts
Hola a los Waferes,
ReplyDeleteIn my last post I asked: Dare we hope? Now we wonder: Are the wheels coming off the go cart? Hope springs eternal in the springtime of herr trumpty (thinking of Mel Brooks' classic here).
"It's getting better all the time" is our new marching cadence and a good song to recall in the rise and fall of...well, the west, the best, the rest and the least. O Michael, O Spartacus, where art thou when we need thee?
cnbc.com/2020/02/27/dow-futures-fall-100-points-after-another-massive-rout-amid-coronavirus-fears-html
stock futures on another Black Friday - O&D!
Fat-
ReplyDeleteShitloads of coke. Mike Pence is a douche bag.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers!
ReplyDeletePlease excuse my absence, as I'm in the middle of an insane bathroom remodel. Workers took down my mirror w/post-it: "You Are Surrounded By Douche Bags." For this, I will *never* forgive them. I trust, w/the exception of simba, that all Wafers and MB are doing well. Get well soon simba.
In terms of the Coronavirus, the level of contagion makes it absolutely unstoppable. This will be our generation's version of the Spanish Flu. It's also a reminder of the ultimate costs of spending nearly $1 trillion a yr on military spending versus science and tech. The talking ape species known as humans wastes precious resources fighting one another rather than advancing science for all. In any case, there's nothing you can do anyway because there is no vaccine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPTHem2iu0A
Until next time, Wafers...
Miles
at some unspecified point in time, perhaps 2040, the US will be no more. Inside the US there will be weeping and wailing. Outside, rejoicing and celebration.
ReplyDeleteSeems like an uncharitable statement to me that people will be rejoicing and celebrating at Americans suffering. Yes, maybe we are all complicit in some way for our demise, but everyone on this planet is complicit for their share of transgressions.
Hi Wafers, Some thoughts on US elections as an outsider. While it may be true that Sanders won’t change a thing even if he were to become the next president, it is interesting to see how his progress has already rattled the establishment. The liberal media has almost declared a war on him. It will be interesting to see if the democratic establishment actually gives him the nomination. But it’s not just the Democratic Party, right wingers outside are also unhappy with him. When Bernie criticised Trump for his silence on the violence against minorities in Delhi, the general secretary of the ruling BJP in India threatened him with interference in the US elections! Isn’t it amazing that almost anybody thinks and believes that he can interfere in the US elections? BJP General Secretary Threatens Bernie Sanders With US Election Interference .
ReplyDeleteA word for Alex on his last comment. I think there are fundamental differences between Brahminism and Nazi ideas. (Not surprising as the former is three millennia old). The former is far clever and subtle. Although there is no central text in Hinduism, Manusmriti can be taken as the canonical one that codifies caste system. In this, differences between castes is woven into the story of genesis. I am not aware of any other religion which declares men are born unequal. Thus any claim to equality within that belief system is a non-starter. You don’t even leave for science to prove or disprove equality with evidence. It is a matter of faith. IMHO why caste system has survived three millennia is still not explained. The Brahminism has a tremendous flexibility of appropriating things when it cannot beat them. But that’s another story.
Well, it's been a while since I've dropped by the blog. Congratulations on the short story collection, Dr. Berman! I wanted to share two tweets that I came across this morning, which nicely encapsulate the differences between Danish civility & American IQ:
ReplyDeleteFrom a Bernie supporter who is optimistic we can right the sinking American ship and mimic the Scandanavian model of socialism: "I spent most of my 20s living in Copenhagen. I made ~35k in one of the most expensive cities in the world. And yet I felt far less economically anxious than I do living in the US. My job was secure, my healthcare was free, I could commute by bike. It sucks we all live with this." https://twitter.com/RottenInDenmark/status/1233075553936101377
A contrasting reality check: "In the last 24 hours we've seen people go nuclear on Garth Brooks for wearing a Barry Sanders jersey while thinking it was a Bernie Sanders endorsement, and 38% refuse to drink Corona beer because of the coronavirus. Never forget that their votes count just as much as yours." https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/1233414596758835202
Hey everybody,
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading "The Greening of America" by Charles A. Reich, which I picked up at my local bookstore for a dollar. Written in 1970 -- 50 years ago now -- its description of America sounds as current as back then. Pretty WAFer-ish sounding. Has anyone read it? What do you think about it? Is it any good? Can it be counted as proto-WAFer literature?
Dave-
ReplyDeleteKinda simplistic, I thought when I read it many yrs ago. It never addresses the issue of power, except for 'flower power', which is kinda lame. This is revolution, American-style. Ted Roszak made a similar mistake, around the same time, but he was a much more serious writer.
ted-
How is it uncharitable if it is simply a (likely) fact? Charity is neither here nor there. Americans tend to 'think' with their emotions; you are a gd example of this. And why wd there be rejoicing around the world, do you think? Have you actually read any American history, and studied the genocide we have perpetrated and continue to do on so many nations? Have you read Wm Blum, Stephen Kinzer, Noam Chomsky, Nick Turse, etc. etc., or even--me? Ted, don't take this personally, but yr an ignorant fool. But I'm sure yr proud of yr righteousness, eh? How gd it must feel!
Jeff-
Apparently many Americans are now refusing to drink Corona beer. That shd do the trick!
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteHard to believe- even American Mennonites are into hustling:
"Mennonite accountant admits $60M Ponzi scheme to scam Mennonite and Amish investors"
https://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/mennonite-accountant-admits-m-ponzi-scheme-to-scam-mennonite-and/article_2ab6a456-5a47-11ea-89fb-7bb0f31836a1.html
Ted--these are YOUR people.
ReplyDeletehttps://nypost.com/2020/02/27/americans-are-avoiding-corona-beer-amid-coronavirus-outbreak-survey-finds/
Dumb and dumberer; the stupidity of the USA-ers is predictable/typical, must be all that "exceptionalism."
Look, y'all. Carlin figured out long ago that these "elections" were collective jack-off sessions perpetrated on the dumb unsuspecting sheep.
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HeMGqTwWA6U
Is it just me or is the meltdown and collapse actually accelerating?
ReplyDelete>this is the way I want to go out - playing a video game on my fone while my car crashes itself into a concrete barrier!
ReplyDeleteHe was an Apple employee driving with Tesla Autopilot. What could possibly go wrong?
China will have self-driving cars before the U.S. will, because reliable software is much more feasible with an infrastructure designed for it, and China is in a position to build it.
And China's welcome to them. Mustn't we assume that once self-driving cars are the norm, before going anywhere they will phone home to a government database to get permission and check whether the requested destination is on the passenger's personal no-go list? The Chinese seem to be o.k. with that-- Americans traditionally less so, although the gap is probably narrowing steadily.
The coronavirus will provide a rather ridiculous excuse for the coming massive recession/depression. Newsflash: if the economy is so fragile it can't withstand a virus-caused lull in commercial activities, you don't have much of an economy at all, but just an over-leveraged, work them to the bone every day with no days off hamster wheel.
ReplyDeleteYou thought everyone was getting rich, but you could even take time off to care for your health... Fool's gold of the modern world
jj-
ReplyDeleteThe latter.
Shithouse-
The Corona beer thing: a perfect example of how Americans 'think'.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThere has been some random discussion of a Wafer Summit Mtg in Denver. I'm wondering if this is a go. I'm thinking June, and wd like to see at least 8 participants in addn to myself. If you are seriously into this, write me at mauricio@morrisberman.com, and let me know. If 8 people sign up, I'll pick a date and venue and provide further info. If not, we might think abt another NY mtg in 2021.
Eat the Wafer; know God.
mb
Here's a shock:
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/26/world/expensive-car-drivers-study-scli-scn-intl/index.html
"Seems that Paul Krugman doesn’t think that the $14 trillion worth of toxic assets and derivatives (on the back of half a trillion dollars worth of subprime mortgages) that were leveraged to the hilt matter.
ReplyDeleteI guess he also does not believe that when these toxic assets were then sold around the world (even as the big banks that created them knew some of the underlying mortgages were defaulting) it had anything to do with the gaping hole they caused in the financial system.
Give me a break."
- Nomi Prins
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/02/paul-krugman-returns-to-perpetuating-the-big-lie-for-wall-street/
San Francisco: Elderly Chinese man collecting recyclables beaten and robbed while on lookers say they hate Asians.
ReplyDeleteIn Philadelphia, Asians being called: corona.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/sfpd-arrest-made-in-assault-robbery-of-elderly-chinese-man-collecting-recyclables-in-bayview
https://temple-news.com/xenophobia-increases-as-coronavirus-cases-rise/
The us was filled with such exceptionalism and greatness. It was a melting pot of diverse cultures, wisdom, and community spirit that gets me every. time. Need a napkin.....
DioGenes - am I the only one who remembers a few months ago the media trying to talk the economy into a recession? Corona *is* kind of convenient.
ReplyDeleteUnknown - Corona's piss water that douches put slices of fruit in. Nothing of value lost.
Ordinary Indian - Of course the Nazis skimmed off what they thought was useful to them.
All - The Anglosphere, the horror! The horror! Get out, as MB said in an interview, "Bulgaria - doesn't matter". https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/27/dying-cold-europe-fuel-poverty-energy-spending
Are these people related to Faulkners Snopes clan?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/mom-and-grandmother-both-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-after-chaining-boy-to-door/ar-BB10zc78?ocid=mmx
Cpl of fine lookin' gals there
Received e-alert arguing that I buy new sheets bc old bedding is full of bacteria and viruses. "W/ the coronavirus outbreak, this is the right time for people to understand how to stay clean in all aspects of life."
ReplyDeleteAh, Capitalism. Pandemic as marketing opportunity!
Is it Wrong that I chuckled at Oprah falling?
ReplyDeletehttps://pagesix.com/2020/02/29/oprah-takes-a-tumble-onstage-during-2020-vision-tour/
Hola a los Waferes,
ReplyDelete@ Birney - not hard to believe at all re: the Mennonites. Where I live, in the sticks, they hide out and hustle in the landscaping and lawn care bizness. They are some of the ultimate hustlers. I see them at the library cruising the internet for parts for their John Deere and Caterpillar heavy equipment. But I haven't been to the library in a year, so who knows. They've fled with the ongoing bust in the energy sector. They are a lot like the FLDS, another bunch of pro hustlers, once upon a time in the West.
Meanwhile in Houston it is relentlessly brutal and violent. The downturn is looking downright glorious for the "have a bless-ed day" crowd. The shit going down 24/7 is truly mind blowing. I don't know what the link is but just try houstonchronicle.com. Any day's reporting is a smorgasbord of dysfunction. Add the coronavirus pandemic approach, the collapse in oil and gas prices and the Dow collapse and you can see what is coming down the
pike. Holy Moly!
@ GSWH Denver in June is a go for me. Will e-mail.
An interview with Ross Douthat on the subject of American decadence.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/28/21137971/the-decadent-society-ross-douthat-book
Hi everyone, have a read It would be a disaster for us to have to choose between Sanders and Trump . Even when one knows that Sanders is not gonna make an iota of difference to the failing empire, the panic in the liberal camp is amusing to me. Some excerpts: ‘ For Sanders, it's the banks, Wall Street, big oil, pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurance companies, CEOs, the 1 percenters, the rich, and plenty of others he deems as enemies.’ ‘ If Sanders commands a strong plurality in delegates short of a simple majority going into the convention, don't expect the feckless Democratic National Committee to deny him the nomination at the convention.’ Such terrible insecurity! They must be having a sigh of relief now that Sanders has lost SC.
ReplyDeleteNo denying that the last days and years of the Empire and capitalism will bring in some horror, but sometimes the spectacle of decline becomes hilarious.
If you want to see how utterly fascist the US police are, just watch the link below where you can find hundreds of body cam videos where police shoot, mostly fatally, any one who fights with the police. The comments on these YouTube videos, mostly by commentators living in the US, are a majority of gloating and laughing with contempt at those killed showing a total lack of empathy.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMYxKMh3prxnM_4kYZuB3g/videos
Breaking News...
ReplyDeleteMicrobiologists working for the WHO have developed a gene that tricks COVID-19 into letting voters determine its transmission vector rather than evolution.
Greetings Wafers everywhere from Cascadia,
ReplyDeleteThe lonely flame of the Tulsi Gabbard campaign continues to flicker as news of Tulsism’s 1.3 percent showing in South Carolina reaches the fringes of mainstream U.S. media:
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/tulsi-gabbard-falls-far-short-again-in-south-carolina/
Undeterred, she plans a “surf session” in California plus appearances in Texas and Michigan ahead of Super Tuesday. How long, Tulsi, how long?
Meanwhile, here in Cascadia we intend to dance the Wah-Tulsi every day up to our own presidential primary on March 10. No word yet on whether there will be a Gabbard rally at Evergreen College.
Dr. B,
ReplyDeleteI will attend a Wafer Summit in Denver this year and/or in NY next year. Count me in. I am sorry I don't post much. I am a faithful daily reader however. Like many other Wafers I find that our ongoing decline has accelerated. I've been advocating that Wafers into NMI consider moving to my little upstate community, but things are getting crazy up here too. All the progs have their hair on fire over Bernie Schmernie or some other inconsequential nonsense. The Trumapazoids grow bolder with each passing day. I don't have any links to prove any of this but I'll keep looking. It's like a rusty old iron bridge. It works until it falls down. Decline is fine, and it's fun to watch if you can keep a safe distance. That's my new bumper sticker: DECLINE IS FINE.
Very positive review of Johnny Lyons's 'The Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin':
ReplyDeletehttps://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march-2020/insight-of-a-prolix-pluralist/
The iPhone at the Deathbed
Families are photographing death at home. These photos may feel jarring on Facebook, but the practice itself has a long history.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/style/iphone-death-portraits.html
Mortuary photography on the rise via iPhone. Sickos!
@ted
ReplyDeleteIf you read this and the articles that it links to on Voltaire.net I think you'll understand better why the USA is not beloved.
It is always at war now. And it will always be at war in the future.
It appears the new strategy is to keep most of the world in misery.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/know-america-your-enemy/5704774
Dirty Money Season 2 is coming out soon. Was very impressed with the 1st season --- puts a documentative lense to the plutocratic world | Official Trailer | Netflix https://youtu.be/p8enKudcpK8
ReplyDeleteMatt-
ReplyDeleteAlso check out "Billions".
Mike-
So far 3 candidates for Denver. Probably we're looking at NY for 7ANYWSM in 2021.
Tino-
Krugman is a douche bag. No wonder he is on the staff of the NYT.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteStemen Semen dept.:
Thomas Stemen, 51, arrested for stabbing shopper Katie Stevens w/a syringe filled w/his semen. Things are getting nuttier by the day in this nation.
Miles
I would thought it couldn't be done, but someone has produced a graphic book on Marcuses. If nothing else, maybe it will, as the author of this piece suggests, revive Marcuses' philsophy among those familiar with it and introduce him to a new generation.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.truthdig.com/articles/herbert-marcuses-philosophy-of-liberation/
For those remaining in the belly, it might be best to form communal communities in various geographic locations for fellowship and safety. Communal farms to raise food, individual houses, shared green space, green energy (if possible), water wells,etc. Independence within community.
Americans will really lose their shit when the March Madness tournament is cancelled b/c of the virus, billions of dollars lost just in gambling alone.
ReplyDeleteHere's an easy four-step program to make America great again. Step 1: Father abuses kid and makes him sleep in dog kennel. Step 2: Father kills kid. Step 3: Father encases kid in concrete slab. Step 4: Father--with help from the mother--dumps slab in storage locker.
ReplyDeleteTake a good look at the photos. This is America's future.
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/01/07/caden-mcwilliams-body-encased-concrete/
trying-
ReplyDeleteMarcuse.
Jeff-
Is she pregnant?
mb
Good day MB, Wafers/Waferettes
ReplyDeleteChris H latest article may be worth a read. His current analysis
sums ups the historical reality and probable outcome leading
up to November 2020. Unfortunately his solution would take a
miracle. Band width is really going to be taxed Wed am I bet.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/class-the-little-word-the-elites-want-you-to-forget/
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteSorry, here's the link for Stemen Semen:
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/02/28/thomas-byron-stemen-syringe-attack-churchton/
A few more items:
I fail to understand how anybody could have ever thought that this wasn't inevitable:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/01/buttigieg-dropping-out-of-presidential-race-118489
Borowitz and Tulsi must have no idea that Wafers are behind her 110%. Go Tulsi! We wuv you:
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/tulsi-gabbards-nine-supporters-urge-her-to-drop-out-of-race
Miles
Tim-
ReplyDeleteHedges still believes that we are in a potential revolutionary situation, insisting that the elites and the man in the street are in bitter opposition. Meanwhile, all the data we have tell us that the man in the street has no interest in opposing elites; he just wants to join them! Poor Chris. If the word self-deluded ever had any application, he wd be it. But I've said it b4: there will never come a pt in this lifetime when he'll wake up. That will never, ever happen. Sad guy (check out eyes, body language).
Jeff-
Tulsism: philosophy of the future.
mb
So I was on my way to the library, which is about 2 blocks away from the nearest subway station, when all of a sudden, there were shots fired near a corner store. Then a group of folks went running away down the st towards the subway. I saw the victim lying on the ground @ the scene of the incident when going back down the opposite direction. A group of curious guys went towards the scene when a lady came down screaming not to go near her house. Some1 wrote about it on a local blog https://www.popville.com/2020/03/shots-fired-reported-in-park-view-near-petworth-metro/
ReplyDeleteI tell ya, this shithole is seriously finished.
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteHedges had an article from about a month ago that seems to indicate he knows that resistance is pointless, but that it is nevertheless still important.
"Whether we can succeed or not is immaterial. We cannot always choose how we will live. But we can choose how we will die. Victory is about holding on to our moral autonomy."
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-land-of-make-believe/
I hear echoes of Gandhi's ""Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is important that you do it"
@ CJ Timmins about the Bernie supporter who lived in Denmark in his 20s. This is something that always puzzled me about USians who lived in reasonably civilised countries (i.e most other places outside the US) and then return home. Why? Why do they go back to the US when they actually realise what a toilet the place is?
ReplyDeleteal-
ReplyDeleteWell, I suspect the distance (moral and otherwise) between Hedges and Gandhi is abt several light yrs. And then, Gandhi had a practical, specific, achievable goal, as well as an opponent that cd be shamed into fighting fair. What Hedges wants to do is lay down a uniform template on all resistance, all situations, and that is quite misguided--dangerous, actually. It is hardly immaterial, what the odds are in any given situation, and I suspect Hedges himself is not prepared to die. Was Rachel Corrie courageous, or stupid? Where is her moral autonomy now? Has she weakened Israel, and are results *really* unimportant?
mb
If America really does collapse I wonder if some of the states would become their own countries. I live in California and I'm pretty sure CA could run itself. The smaller states like Rhode Island and Delaware might have problems. Maybe some of the smaller states will align with bordering states that are bigger and become their own countries. Hopefully America doesn't collapse, but the way things are going I don't have much hope.
ReplyDelete@al & MB,
ReplyDeleteJust something I have been thinking abt. What if u are against an enemy who cannot be shamed? Who has no moral boundaries? Specifically, Gandhi's non-violence worked against the British b'coz they claimed a moral imperative to show that they are 'civilizing' a lesser ppl, whatever the actual interests. What if Gandhi was up against the Nazis? Would the same tactics have worked? Even more specifically, once the Nazis captured all institutions of power, was it possible for any resistance within the German boundaries to defeat them? Can such forces, once they are in complete control of the state machinery--executive, legislature, law enforcement, judiciary--be defeated without outside intervention?
These are not theoretical questions. We are in that kind of a situation. The world recognizes that. Will anything come of it?
In an extraordinary move, the UN human rights body has moved the Supreme Court of India against a law passed by the Indian Parliament.
UN Human Rights Chief Moves to Intervene Over CAA in SC, India Objects .
Indian-
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine Gandhi up against the US Army, or the IDF? Gd luck!
mb
A piece of the collapse/rise of tyranny puzzle in the US and many other developed countries that has not received much attention in this blog is Christian Nationalism. CN is the unholy alliance of ultraconservative politicians and fundamentalist Christians who want to turn America into a theocracy whose laws and customs are based on Christian Scripture. And they are tremendously well organized and financed. To achieve the goal of one religion rule, Christians has allied themselves with Republican operatives who help them get their communicants to the voting booth in the millions to elect Republicans who will do their bidding. They made the difference in Trump's election and will reelect him. This is not a religious movement but a political one. While ranting about reviving family and Christian "values", what the leaders actually want is power - raw, naked political power. The power the tell others how to live.
ReplyDelete(the book to read is "The Power Worshippers" by Katherine Stewart - don't read it late at night or alone)
Ordinary Indian--the avg USian doesn't even know who Gandhi was or what he even stood for. They were too busy watching sports, porn, and glued to corporate US teevee to see which "presidential" "candidate" would provide them salvation.
ReplyDeleteUpdate: yesterday's shooting victim has since bitten the dust. Who needs outside influences when Amerikkka is doing a gr8 job @ destroying itself? Time to roll
ReplyDeletehttps://www.fox5dc.com/news/man-dead-after-shooting-near-georgia-avenue-petworth-metro-station
It looks as if Tulsi may have one adelegate in American Samoa. Which should entitle her to a spot on the stage for the next Democratic debate.
ReplyDeleteThere is hope yet....
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/bloomberg-wins-american-samoa-gabbard-will-receive-delegate-nbc-news-projects-79947845810
(I imagine that election night web pages are going to disappear on a regular basis so that link will probably be dead)
Hola Wafers—checking in here with an important article that I know you all can appreciate, especially because the author doesn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat at the end. Always a good thing here at this blog, especially if you plan on hangin’ with us real folk! O&D my friends!
ReplyDeletehttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/shell-climate-change.html
Bernie Schmernie indeed!
ReplyDeleteI fully expected the American public to at least indulge the illusion of progress for a few more months before throwing in the towel. Apparently they want their serving of cold Biden-porridge now.
But let's have a moment of silence for our Brave Senator Schmernie. Schmernie almost came close to waving his magic wand of Scandinavian Socialism that would have created 40 acres of lollipops for every citizen and a unicorn in every garage.
In 2024, Schmernie will be 82.
And you can bet he'll be tanned, rested, and ready to run!
We love you, Schmernie!
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/03/03/hillary_clinton_bernie_sanders_has_to_follow_the_rules_on_delegates_at_dnc_convention.html
Hola a los Waferes
ReplyDelete@Ordinary Indian "Will anything come of it?" - Great questions of morality in a dying nation often embracing the wrong, immoral choice. See: "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder (2017).
@MB That would. Be. Uh. No.
Hamsters in a cage on an exercise wheel department. In the middle of nowhere, aka "drumpf country", a place I know well, drivers in a hurry, striving and dying to get the next load of crap delivered on time:
"Three dead in 100 vehicle winter storm pileup in Wyoming"
https//cdlllife.com/2020/dozens-of-vehicles-collide-in-winter-storm-pileup-in-wyoming
It seems both inclined and declined at the same time.
@Ordinary Indian,
ReplyDeleteDerrick Jensen talks at length about those kind of questions in his two volumes of Endgame. Not a very "light" read to say the least, but I truly believe his work changed the way I view things today.
Kanye
The opioid crisis in America might be worse than thought. According to a new study, deaths from opioid-related overdoses could be 28% higher than reported due to incomplete death records.
ReplyDeletehttps://abcnews.go.com/Health/opioid-crisis-worse-thought-making-epidemic-harder-fight/story?id=69208304
Doctor,
ReplyDeleteStarting to get obsessed by chess. I can fully understand how one (or two) can go insane over this game. Needless to say, it's beautifully designed and reading about Fisher (he once sacrificed his queen!) and Morphy whom CM were literally afraid to play is an additional benefit. My goal is to be among the top 100 someday. Well, I can dream, can't I?
Just the ages of the candidates should tell you how sclerotic the US is. Say what you will about JFK, Nixon, and Carter they were all young men which I feel reflected the temper of the country at the time. Now Biden, Sanders, and Hair are all 78. It's obvious the DMC will never allow Sanders to get the nomination-perfect replay of 2016. At least Sanders will not attend AIPAC though he could still cave as the convention nears. Hell, they all cave...or else.
BTW, has Corona changed your thoughts about overseas travel? My SE Asian friends are suffering terribly as tourism has basically dried up.
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteGood point, Dr. Belman.
The Marines or IDF would throw Gandhi out of a helicopter.
I suppose Hedges can be dismissed as being hopelessly idealistic, but there is still something to be said for moral resistance, isn't there? Just saying "to hell with it" and going shopping, or drinking on the beach, are also alternatives, I suppose.
al-
ReplyDeleteI can't see resistance for the sake of resistance. We shd be smarter than that. Plus, altho Hedges is apparently urging this "unto death" for the masses, I don't see him putting his own life on the line. (Maybe I'm wrong.)
Dan-
There were a # of famous chess players who went cuckoo. I guess you hafta be careful. Bishop to Bishop 4. As for travel to Thailand: not any time soon, I guess. I'm thinking NY in May 2021.
mb
https://readsludge.com/2020/01/13/the-members-of-congress-who-profit-from-war/
ReplyDeleteThe Members of Congress Who Profit From War
Here are the senators and representatives who own stock in Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and other top defense contractors.
MB/Wafers question- Do you have any Wafer book recommendations in regard to the history of voting politics in the country?
Greetings MB and Wafers of the World,
ReplyDeleteWhere is Tulsi in the middle of all this? Where is Chubby Checker when we need him to do the Wah-Tulsi? Has MB completed his treatise on Tulsic philosophy? Has Chrystal Walraven become pregnant again? Was her abandoned infant returned to her? Is Joe still Biden his time, drinkin' her wine? As for Super Tuesday, could we do an autopsy while the corpse of American democracy is still warm? These are just a few of the questions that have been on my mind of late.
Miles
Long time lurker who’s read/benefited from many MB books; ROTW, CTOS, WAF, AQOV, NB. I also plan on leaving US for Japan in the near term with my wife.
ReplyDeleteI'm compelled to chime in on the Hedges/Corrie/Gandhi convo above... What's missing is the fact that Gandhi/MLK both operated within movements that *included* violent/militant resistance. Gandhi's success wasn’t his alone and came partially from the fact that he was the least bad option for the elites to make concessions to. This is true of MLK as well (although he was killed, even still).
Author Peter Gelderloos explains it well at the 6:12 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OReGYJtnTE
The expatriate/NMI options are good, but the real value of MB's work (to me) is the cultural critique of the US. But if some who share that critique choose to agitate (art/writing) and fight (militant protest) against the culture, I’m not compelled to condemn/insult them. You can say it's a losing battle, but by that metric William Wallace, John Brown, MLK (et al) “lost” their battles, too. As for Rachel Corrie, the Palestinians certainly respect her (including the Nasrallah family, whose home she was trying to protect) so that’s good enough for me.
Jacques Lacan: Allergic to the clear conclusion
ReplyDeleteJacques Lacan’s explorations into a language-like unconscious and the strangeness within ourselves https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/jacques-lacan-allergic-to-the-clear-conclusion-footnotes-to-plato/
Voting took 6 hours yesterday. Voting itself took minutes, but the travel was 3 hours each way. Originally I was going to get to the "transit center" closest to the polling place then just cab it, but when I called the cab. co. the receptionist was a robot and the cab never showed up. Thanks to the help of a lovely Sudanese fellow who works for Tesla and a lovely Af-Am bus driver, I got there fine. An Eastern European bus driver hopped me to a stop where buses actually stop, on my way back as buses get scarce in the evening. I never got my mail-in ballot and it seems that's going around - even in California we have Republicans doing their dirty tricks.
ReplyDeletePassed many, many empty sites from small store fronts to acres-large ex-concerns. Indeed, if you can get out of the US, why ever come back?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deaths-Despair-Future-Capitalism-Anne/dp/069119078X/
ReplyDeleteDeaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
@ Nina Richards- not sure if this fits on voting politics, but a good overview of what a cesspool the Democrats are-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/431-the-democrats
"The Democrats: A Critical History systematically debunks the notion that the Democratic Party is a progressive force, and that it can be pushed to the left by its voting base.....
"The Democratic Party, Lance Selfa demonstrates, is the graveyard of American social movements, its grassy knolls entombing the disappointed carcasses of Populism, Progressivism, Labor, and the Green movement. The Democrats should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand why Barack Obama turned out to be the undertaker of reform.”
Ping-
ReplyDeleteBut they are optimistic at the end--a big no-no. r.u. the Ping from Seinfeld?
alex-
Why vote at all?
Kgar-
I still believe that a blanket template for all resistance movements is a destructive ideology. Of course, Palestinians will respect anyone who fights for their side, but this is hardly an analysis of the viability of Rachel's position, or of strategies that*are* viable. MLK not only, at the end of his life, saw his battle as limited and possibly counter-productive (why get an equal share of a rotten pie, as I've said on numerous occasions; this was a man with a brain!). Not all battles are losing ones, just as not all are winning or sensible ones. If yr not willing to evaluate situations case by case, yr basically a revolutionary fundamentalist; which is what Hedges is. Not only an unhealthy position, but a potentially dangerous one (pied piper phenomenon), imo.
Jeff-
Impt questions. Where *is* Chrystal Walraven, for fuck's sake?
Nina-
https://www.carnegie.org/topics/topic-articles/voting-rights-timeline/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvuHgvMqD6AIVRL7ACh0jWgm3EAAYASAAEgJJFfD_BwE
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteCd there be a bigger douche bag than Tulsi? Possibly, Mike Bloomberg. He spent half a billion on a moronic campaign, and is now outta the race. And talk abt body language! A dead fish. Not even worth a Wafer Urine Treatment.
mb
Dan D-
ReplyDeleteThe Dems are so full of shit it makes one dizzy; even with FDR, it was never abt anything but saving capitalism. And yet the whole country is jazzed up abt Schmiden vs. Schmernie, as if there were an actual difference. Meanwhile, 38% of them won't drink Corona beer. What, indeed, can one say?
mb
Why vote at all indeed, three years of hyperventilation (auto erotic masturbation) we're back to Hillary w/o the pantsuit and Bernie. Dementia Joe is a far better moniker than Sleepy Joe (I've emailed the Trump team but haven't heard back yet). It's meaningless but I can't imagine living w/o the right to vote, I can't vote Trump (too many willfully ignorant people I still care enough about to see get kicked in the teeth) no way though I'm voting for 'lesser of 2evils' - Dems have used this pitiful argument since McGovern they deserve to have it shoved up their ass. My vote is abstention for prez though I'll still vote down ballot, in the end History is gonna double down and keep Trump where he belongs - it's all spectacle all bullshit.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha...
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/t-Z2cP7itdw
'The fact that black voters went overwhelming for Biden is only surprising if you're unaware that black dem voters are way more conservative than white dem voters.
ReplyDeleteThe progressive activist class may feel itself to be channeling black America's politics, but it's not.'
- Coleman Hughes
Keen observation!
EXCLUSIVE: 'I did it to manage my anxieties.' Bill Clinton reveals in Hillary Hulu doc that he had oral sex with Monica Lewinsky to ease pressures of the job, feels 'terrible' scandal defined her life and confessing to Chelsea was the worst
ReplyDelete....We all gotta relieve the stress! What an awful man.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8078733/Bill-Clinton-says-having-sex-Monica-Lewinsky-manage-anxieties.html
Diarmaid-
ReplyDeleteLink?
jj-
One of the great douche bags of our time. Where is Tulsi when we need her? I also don't understand the curious silence of Ging Newtrich, Rom Mittney, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Dan Quayle. Or Bush Jr., for that matter.
mb
ps: Meanwhile, another douche baguette bites the dust: Warren, Schmarren. TULSI HANG IN THERE! WE NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER!
ReplyDeleteHere is why Biden may be a better candidate than Trump!
ReplyDeletehttps://caitlinjohnstone.com/2020/03/05/stop-calling-it-a-stutter%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8Ahere-are-dozens-of-examples-of-bidens-dementia-symptoms/
Wafers-
ReplyDelete1st, the election doesn't mean shit. It's pure theater, and it will change 0.
2nd: it's 8 mos. away, and the country is having a full-tilt erection abt it rt now. What cd be more stupid, other than confusing Corona beer with coronavirus (which 38% of the American public do).
3rd: all of this beating off will reach an orgasmic crescendo by late October, after which--hopefully--Trumpi will crush the progs, and we can get back to the normal, and inevitable, self-destruction of the country.
mb
Was it Gore Vidal who said: America has one party with 2 wings? If so, he continues to be correct, maybe even more so today. There's not a dime's difference between the two. Both parties are corrupt and subservient to and dependent upon political and financial elites. Putting one in office instead of the other will make no difference in the direction of the country or the condition of those who don't benefit from unfettered capitalism. Campaigns are about trying to convince gullible voters that one party will make it possible for them to finally achieve the American Dream - all evidence to the contrary.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.socialistalternative.org/why-we-need-a-labor-party/democrats-republicans/
Even the prisoners want out of the Amerikkkan Nightmare
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-prison-drug-overdose-fentanyl-heroin-deaths-20200304.html
http://www.openculture.com/2020/03/updating-joseph-campbells-heros-journey-to-cover-female-action-heroes-pretty-much-pop-a-culture-podcast-33.html
ReplyDeleteUpdating Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” to Cover Female Action Heroes
BARF! Hey let's take something wrong and find a way to make it even....wronger?
Dr. B
ReplyDeleteYou said "...Not all battles are losing ones, just as not all are winning or sensible ones."
Well, even though Socrates was executed didn't he win in the end? His works lived on through Plato and others until we got to modern philosophy. And, historical records claim that he owed a cock to Asclepius.
Really, Canters Deli started in ancient Athens but had a different name back then and changed through the ages. Asclepius was the one who started it and Socrates still owed on the bill for his pastrami and rye sandwich.
Rocket Man dpt:
ReplyDelete“If you want to protect the Earth, save the Earth, we have to go to space,” he said in a speech a year ago."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/17/technology/jeff-bezos-climate-change-earth-fund.html
Kanye
Ha. Ha. Ha. Make your own hand sanitizer from cheap Vodka.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9515851/titos-vodka-hand-sanitizer-alcohol-coronavirus
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/titos-vodka-hand-sanitizer_n_5e613c06c5b601904ea70ab6
'Viral' marketing campaigns are now merging with viral diseases, here in the Greatest Country On Earth™
I expected the next 'punctuation' of the US devolution to come from a terrorist attack. If anything like 9/11 happened today, just imagine the hysterical idiocy that would result, and the level of martial law and such that would be willingly accepted by most Americans. But no, looks like a virus might be what pushes us down another notch or two. And, added bonus, we will now have justification for fearing any contact with other people.
https://xkcd.com/2276/
The serial plagiarist Schmiden is the candidate America deserves.
ReplyDeleteVideo: Compilation of Biden’s Public Lies & Plagiarism – Jimmy Dore
True with more sources: snopes.com/fact-check/joe-biden-plagiarism/
ps to Kgar-
ReplyDeleteRegarding the militant violence you say was in the background with Gandhi and MLK: my problem is your lack of evidence. Not that you are nec wrong, but without some links, it's just an assertion. If you cd provide links to bks and articles by reputable historians on the subject, that wd be very helpful.
cube-
*Did* he? I'd like to be around for my victory! Hemlock ain't my cuppa tea. Yes on Plato, but then he was no rebel (cf. Republic).
trying-
"with two *right* wings" He shd have said, with 2 jokes. Biden, Trumpi. Now there's a choice 4u. But hopefully Trumpi will crush the dolt and can move on to the serious business of dismantling the country. Only Tulsi can save us.
mb
Good article here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/03/26/left-behind-life-expectancy-crisis/
"The victims of America’s pain epidemic might be experiencing something similar to what Frantz Fanon called North African Syndrome—a mixture of stomach ailments, vague aches and pains, heart palpitations, and headaches that afflicted Algerian migrants in France during the 1940s. Baffled French doctors could find no physical cause, and treatment offered no relief, so they dismissed their patients as malingerers. But Fanon, channeling Jean-Paul Sartre’s equation of existential despair with physical nausea, understood that these migrants, raised to believe that they were part of a great French empire, were responding to the mental agony of loneliness. Poor and adrift on the outskirts of French cities, rejected and condescended to by French people, they were liminal and lost, even to themselves."
Tonight I pray for Tulsi. For her miraculous return to the debate stage as leader in all the polls that matter. For her ultimate succession to the throne once held by an orange alien from Planet Tan-Man and known by everyone who matters as the biggest idiot to ever walk the earth. That no one will travel across space and time to replace him. And, finally, for this great nation of ours, that it may continue to spiral down into nothingness, thus ridding the earth of the greatest threat to its survival. Amen. Now, turn the light off and go to bed and try not to wake up. You don't want to see what's coming.
ReplyDeleteGreetings all. From a Yahoo Finance article, March 5th: "Coronavirus outbreak may have unleashed panic buying of Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs". Hostess Brands CEO Andy Callahan explains: "That's the great thing about Hostess, we are there to celebrate things. We are there to comfort things. So we are seeing a slight uptick in traffic. Its too early to tell, a lot of our point-of-sale data lags." (I can only imagine this classic Uriah Heep hustler rubbing his hands in glee at the prospects).
ReplyDeleteThis really is becoming funny, funny stuff. No one, but no one, can panic with quite the Red, White & Blue style of the Exceptional Batshit People. We're Numero Uno! We saw this as far back (at least) as 1938 during Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. Someone (Dr. Berman?) will likely mine this hysteria for some great fiction/film material someday. And perhaps the fading Wa Tulsi will give way to that hot Sagging Twenties craze the 'Elbow Bump'.
Here in lovely, friendly, inexpensive, non-EU, non-Anglosphere, somewhat casually corrupt but ever laid-back & ex-pat welcoming Montenegro we calmly sip our espresso down by the sea, shake hands, smooch face, and no one wears a mask. (PS: Denver, Schmenver! As the spokesman for the WAF Monty Brigade I can tell you we ain't returning to Batshit anytime soon).
Hi, mb -- You're probably too busy to read this, but...I've been a fan of your books for years; just discovered your blog. And I have a burning question: why do you refer to your followers/fans as wafers? Thanks for answering, if you do...
ReplyDeleteMaggie-
ReplyDeleteAll polite requests answered. 1st, always capitalize Wafer. We are the most evolved species on the planet.
2nd, the name is from my book Why America Failed (WAF). Hence, those who have read the bk and agree with it are known as Wafers.
Glad to have u here.
flan-
NYC in May 2021!
trying-
But she will explain Tulsism, abt which we all need to know.
Wafers-
Still no sign of Bill Hicks. I'm hoping his absence does not mean illness. Meanwhile, I'm almost finished rdg the bio of the real Bill Hicks, "American Scream," by Cynthia True. Some quotes:
1. Bill had an Elvis gig, and explained to a reporter that Elvis "is a hilarious American story. He had everything he cd possibly want and he was still completely miserable. It's just mind boggling. One thing I don't like is the idea of the media and corporations pushing 'The American Way.' The American way is no way at all. Are people happier? You judge a culture by how happy the people are, not by how much money they have."
2. Bill, says the author, was "thinking against society."
3. "I do what I do so people won't feel alone."
4. "It is the 'moment' I'm addicted to. That moment is a suspension of time and space when we realize our true selves as timeless." (Shades of Proust)
5."The holiness of creating is my joy. Being in the moment--time and space are negated and we know our true self--Eternal, joyous and free. There is only love. The feeling comes from *any* type of creation--writing, speaking, performing, playing guitar, sitting quietly and relaxing. I live for this. This *is* Life."
mn
@Kgar: Gandhi was never—ever—part of a militant movement, as you insinuate by stating that he (like MLK), "operated within movements that *included* violent/militant resistance." (In the early years of his civil rights movement, MLK, like many African Americans, kept guns, presumably for his personal safety, and was restrained from having anything to do with weapons partly by his movement's genius (gay) organizer, Bayard Rustin.) But Gandhi did not operate "within" any "violent/militant resistance"—not that there was any appreciable violent/militant resistance to British colonial rule in India worth the name.
ReplyDeleteI challenge you to provide even an iota of reputable evidence from any credible source to support your wildly ignorant, disparaging accusation. Absent that, an apology perhaps?
Those are very beautiful quotes from the Hicks book. Did you enjoy Bill Hicks comedy Mr Berman? I never understood that kind of comedian. For me a great Wafer-style comedian was/is Canadian Norm Macdonald. Has all the anti-PC and vulgarity but from a highly literate person who consciously avoids sounding more intelligent than his audience. He also wrote a 'fictional memoir' that was described as a “Dostoyevsky by way of 30 Rockefeller Center . . . the best new book I’ve read this year or last.”
ReplyDeleteHe actually criticizrd Bill's style in this interview w/ better points than I can make. PS You should check out his Netflix show!
https://www.vulture.com/2018/09/norm-macdonald-in-conversation.html
https://youtu.be/rB8nih-S2aE
https://youtu.be/3mtfa0iyeM0
Of Course they did.....Toilet Paper Pummeling's!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theamericanmirror.com/2020/03/video-coronavirus-panic-shoppers-throw-punches-over-toilet-paper-another-tasered/
Huawei is complicit in the largest mass atrocity occurring in the world today ... working directly with the Chinese government in Xinjiang to help silence, detain, harass and intimidate Uighur civilians— AJOpinion, by Benedict Rogers
ReplyDeleteMonsters...
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/huawei-allowed-build-uk-5g-networks-200227111017065.html
Cel-Ray - I was going to post a link to a review of one of those books but instead you come across with *pure gold* thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThings will have to get far worse to kick off the Revolution though.
Right now my retirement plans involve not Hawaii where I grew up, in the end a terrible caste-based WASP place, but at least a trial run in New Orleans first. This 'haole' would get thrown in jail for playing trumpet tout de suite back home, but in N.O. it's encouraged. I could even work in learning some French, and I get the impression they hate WASPS almost as much as I do.
Rush on toilet paper and plastic water bottles at Costco this week. These are the 2 items, shoppers claim, one needs to survive the Corona-virus. Since, as we all know, the water taps in our kitchens will cease to flow due to the infection and toilet paper will come in handy when we have to lean over and kiss our asses good-bye.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ocregister.com/2020/03/02/costco-crush-water-toilet-paper-dwindle-on-coronavirus-fears/
Hear Beowulf as if you were a Saxon: narrated by Icelandic storyteller and poet, Svanur Thorkelsson, this project (spearheaded by none other than Margaret Atwood) is truly an audio experience unlike any other
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/beowulf-saga-is-given-its-saxon-voice-again-r5pwt07kk
ReplyDeleteHere's David Foster Wallace, on point 24 years ago:
«I don't think the proliferation of things like HDTV, virtual reality, and the Web are going to introduce any new problems. They may, [however], make [the old ones] worse because they are going to make an electronically-lived life seem more seductive, so they may enhance the illusion that we are actually living. The problem is going to be, "Let's see, I spent all day staring at a computer screen and then at night my most meaningful relationships are with the two-dimensional characters who aren't in fact two-dimensional characters...gee, I wonder why I'm lonely and doing a lot of drugs? Could there be any connection between the fact that I've got nothing to do with other people, that I don't really have a fucking clue what it is to have a real life and the fact that most of my existence is mediated by entertainment that I passively choose to receive?"»
Full interview if anyone is interested:
http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/0596May/Verbal/dfwmain.html
Hi. I'm a Mexican who visited USA on many occasions. I can never live there long-term; most Americans seem like zombies & the place seems lifeless. Some of my family have also said the same. The media always show foreigners eager to be here, though int'l tourism to USA is on the decline. Going through the comments on the 1st pg, someone mentioned a musician who killed himself despite "having everything". It all seems like a fraud.
ReplyDeleteThe mystery of Bill Hicks:
ReplyDeleteHere’s his blog, The Downward Spiral: http://billhicksisdead.blogspot.com/
And while he hasn’t recently posted, if you scroll down a little, on the right, you’ll see “my favorite links,” one of which is to Schmernie.
So it seems that he’s alive, but how well I’m not sure.
Bill – miss you!
An Incarceration Nation?https://www.lawliberty.org/liberty-forum/an-incarceration-nation/
ReplyDelete'Why is the US incarceration rate so high? A data-driven analysis. 3 big reasons: US homicide rate is > 6X other Western countries; far more crimes here involve guns; recidivist spillover from high-crime decades (60s-90s).'
Terence-
ReplyDelete4. The country is violent and stupid.
Bill-
Fucking come back, chico! We need you!
Guillermo-
Stay where u.r. We are wallowing in poop.
Hans-
Then he killed himself. Well, that's one solution, I guess.
Maggie-
Impt blog rule: post only once every 24 hrs. BTW, you failed to understand what I was saying in WAF ch. 4. Most Americans did. However, I can't go over that material any more. When bk appeared in 2011, I tried to clarify it for these folks, and failed completely. So I no longer discuss slavery or Civil War here; no pt to it.
Kgar-
u.c. the importance of evidence, yes? Anyone can assert anything, after all. Not very impressive without proof.
Meanwhile, we have another useless Democratic debate coming up, sans Tulsi Gabbard. The horror, the shame! TULSI AMERICA NEEDS YOU!
mb
Sarasvati,
ReplyDeleteThe My Favorite Links section on Bill Hicks' blog is just a list of blogs he follows. Blogger automatically provides a link to the most recent post from each of the blogs he follows. The fact his list shows this post is not evidence he's alive.
Observations from the US Corona Capital, the Pacific NW...ventured up to Seattle last nite to see Colin Hay perform at St. Marks Cathedral. The ferry ride over from Bremerton was barely half full and we stayed in the car. Both of my daughters live and work in Seattle and we met at my oldest's flat for pizza and drinks. We walked to the event and waited in line outside before the show. No masks, no apparent fear but people were noticeably not shaking hands or hugging. It was a sold out show in a beautiful setting and the acoustics were amazing. Colin may be the best storyteller/troubadour on the planet at the moment and he did not disappoint. People were rude with their phones, there was continuous banter during songs and the doors at the back of the church were constantly opening, banging and letting in bright light. Folks were drinking...a lot. Colin sang his song "Beautiful World" , a verse from that song:
ReplyDeleteAll around is anger
Automatic guns
Death in large numbers
And no respect for women or our little ones
I tried talking to Jesus
But he just put me on hold
Said he'd been swamped by calls this week
And he could not shake his cold
Onward and downward my fellow Wafers, waiting for my real life to begin...carry on.
The billhicksisdead blog is in zombie mode. Links on the followed list update automatically on blogspot.
ReplyDeleteBill has either gone mondo NMI- set down the internet for the truly sublime, or has gone Beyond.
You go, Bill.
MB-
ReplyDeleteYesterday I submitted a comment providing evidence but it hasn’t appeared…
Although, I didn’t think my assertion that the Civil Rights (CRM) or Indian Independence (IIM) movements included elements that were violent/militant and elements that were not, was a matter of dispute. What I hoped to discuss was *how* these elements played off each other (e.g. the “Martin vs Malcolm” debate). With my view being that they cannot be decontextualized from each other.
Again, here are the references:
Regarding IIM: Chittagong Armoury Raid, Central Assembly Bombing, Dalhousie Bomb Case, Kakatori Conspiracy, Chauri Chaura Incident (in which Gandhi was involved), HSRA, Chandra Azad, Rajendra Lahiri, Roshan Singh, Ram Bishil, Ganesh Savarkar (see: Terror and the Post-Colonial by Boehmer/Morton)
Regarding CRM: the Race Riots of the 60’s (too many to list), the Black Panthers, OAAU, Deacons of Defense, Soledad Brothers, Black Guerrilla Family, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X (see: This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed by Charles Cobb Jr)
Ajay-
I’ll state it clearly as I can— some elements in the IIM were violent, other elements (Gandhi) were nonviolent.
IIM included decades of violent opposition (see above). The amount of revolutionary violence of the era is so overwhelming that I would think the evidential burden falls on anyone claiming otherwise.
Anyways, if you manage to formulate a cogent counterargument at some point, I’m all ears!
Here are some of my experiences for International Women’s Day. IMO, these experiences reflect larger toxic American attitudes.
ReplyDeleteAbout a year ago, the youngest of my three brothers told me – to my face – that women should not be allowed to vote. After that he declared, “giving women the vote ruined this country!”
While my mother was pregnant with me (her first child), my father announced to one and all that he would only bring home a boy from the hospital. My childhood was filled with the “hilarious” retelling of the doctor insisting that dad bring home this girl. My mother also never learned to drive, and I deeply regret never having taught her.
In 2019, I did not attend the November and December holiday events. For the first time, the holidays were relaxed, and my chest and stomach did not hurt.
@Kanye, Thanks for introducing me to Derrick Jensen. Read a few of the excerpts on his website. Deals with the kind of questions I am grappling with.
ReplyDelete@kgar, you make an interesting pt abt Gandhi operating in an atmosphere where militant movements were happening in parallel. However, (as a non-expert though) I would like to place my opinion based on whatever history of the nationalist movement I have read. The Indian nationalist movement would never have become a mass movement wo Gandhi’s non-violent tactics. Also I doubt if any of the militant movements were of a scale which could have really shaken the empire, except, if at all, by the Indian National Army of Subhas Bose. But then it took support from Hitler and the Japanese. I don’t know enough details abt MLK’s times. Any reference will be helpful.
The glee with which the liberal media reported Biden’s win was amusing. Finally, they can breathe at ease, for a while at least.
Hillary Clinton: Biden 'is building the kind of coalition that I had'
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/hillary-clinton-bernie-biden-171123756.html
Ha. Ha. Ha. She thinks that this is a good thing. Could she have her head any further up her ass?
"Hillary Clinton said in a new interview that Joe Biden's path to the 2020 nomination looks similar to hers back in 2016.
“What Joe’s victories on Super Tuesday showed is that he is building the kind of coalition that I had basically,” Clinton said in an interview with CNN's “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that aired Sunday.
“It’s a broad-based coalition,” she said. “I finished, you know, most of the work I needed to do for the nomination on Super Tuesday, and then it kind of lingered on. And I think Joe is on track to doing exactly the same thing: putting together a coalition of voters who are energized.”
Hola a los Waferes,
ReplyDelete@MB to Kgar Verdad muchacho. Assertions mean nothing and many amerikans do not give evidence a single thought...I know this quite well.
I thought this was interesting. It looks like Joe Biden is doing better than Bernie Sanders in poorer counties.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2020/03/06/811611247/biden-outperforming-sanders-in-counties-with-lower-incomes-more-voters-of-color
So much for the proletarian revolution. This reminds me of the discussion we’ve had here about how poor Americans tend to be more patriotic than other Americans.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/20/poor-americans-patriotic-than-their-wealthier-counterparts
'"Assad is not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States," Gabbard said Wednesday morning on MSNBC.'
ReplyDeletehttps://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/06/politics/tulsi-gabbard-syria-assad/index.html
What a gal!
Exciting times: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/813619387/dow-dives-1-900-points-nyse-halts-trading-as-stock-indexes-plummet
ReplyDeleteI can't help but think a larger and larger segment of the public is becoming aware that we are living through a collapse of disatrous proportions. First cultural collapse-which began a long time ago(documented by MB in WAF trilogy), then economic collapse-of which we are now in the throes, and then climate collapse-the ultimate disruptor. When we bottom out, you'd better hope your remaining assets are yuan-pegged(Shteyngart).
Meanwhile, here are some cutting edge intellectuals that we should be hearing more from. Please let this debate happen MSM. After Trump Jr beats off Biden Jr, we'll have an entertaining prequel for the upcoming bout between their moronic parents.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/donald-trump-jr-challenges-hunter-biden-to-debate
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteThe Trumpo admin is repeating the excesses of the Nixon admin. Erik Prince, the former chief of the mercenary army Blackwater, is waging a secret war on liberal groups in the US:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/07/chilling-erik-prince-recruited-ex-spies-help-project-veritas-infiltrate-groups
How far are we away from what happened in the late 1960s and 1970s? Will Trump law enforcement officials, for example, begin gunning down activists while they sleep, like they did to Fred Hampton in 1969? Will this blog be shut down and MB taken to remote black site prison? Has Bill Hicks been removed from the scene based on his radical writings at Requiem For The American Dream? I know this sounds unbelievable and fantastical, but this *is* the reality of America today and we do have historical precedent for these kinds of actions in our recent past. Shit's pretty outta control here, no doubt about it.
Miles
John Gray's new book Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life will be released 29 Oct 2020
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Feline-Philosophy-Cats-Meaning-Life/dp/0241351146/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Alright! New MB and JG writings in the same year! 2020's looking up!
This is my greatest existential fear! A scary long read by Carl Zimmer:
ReplyDeleteTracing The Rise & Fall of Carbon 14
Nuclear Tests Marked Life on Earth With a Radioactive Spike
Even as it disappears, the “bomb spike” is revealing the ways humans have reshaped the planet. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/03/how-nuclear-testing-transformed-science/607174/
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteThe govt hasn't come after me because I, and this blog, have less signficance than a gnat. But as you say, times are crazy...perhaps some day, I'll be hauled away. Who knows.
Kgar-
Sorry, I never got your original post on evidence. In any case, your 1st para here is very confusing, and seems to me to contradict what your originally wrote. Plus, these lists you provide don't prove any causal connections; they are just lists. What you are unable to provide is links to articles and bks by reputable historians who have studied and analyzed these subjects in depth, and who support your argument. Documentary evidence means specific refs, specific texts. Where are yours? Again, you cd be rt, but rt now yr still just making assertions. (See also post from Ordinary Indian)
mb
OH GREAT!!! Right near my HOUSE!!!!
ReplyDeletehttps://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/passengers-from-cruise-ship-to-be-quarantined-at-mcas-miramar/
I include this reference for its discussion of the negative effects of neoliberalism on the human being. I think he gets it mostly right, especially when he says: "Young people entering the workforce today are expected to cheerfully embrace their own alienation and the commodification of their whole existence. Under neoliberalism, citizens become producers/consumers who are “free” to participate in the market economy." As far its demise and Bernie's ascension, he is way off. The DNC will make sure that Biden, a defender of neoliberalism, gets the nod. And neoliberalism, for the foreseeable future, is IT - there are no viable alternatives.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.truthdig.com/articles/neoliberalism-has-radicalized-a-whole-generation/
Kgar,
ReplyDeleteLike MB, I have a hard time translating what it is you're trying to tell us. Are you for violent revolution? Against violent revolution? Maybe these links below will help you decide.
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/03/10/revolution-without-violence/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201404/violent-versus-nonviolent-revolutions-which-way-wins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4DlfEQ7cyk
Good luck finding anyone in America who will join a mass movement, violent or non-violent. The only exception might be a riot for a chicken sandwich. Personally, I am in favor of revolution, the more violent the better. With all the guns in this nation we could have one hell of a revolution,but our government has more guns than its citizens. Our government will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo until the bitter end. Keep buying those chicken sandwiches and hunker down. We're in for an interesting ride.
Comrade, Simba
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input – what I don’t know about computers and the internet would fill the library of congress. Not only am I old, but also a Luddite.
A taste of The Mandibles in Europe. All of Italy is under lockdown due to Coronavirus. Prisoners are triggering riots in jails across the country, hospitals are running out of beds in the North and people are rushing to supermarkets to stock up on food.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/09/coronavirus-italy-prime-minister-country-lockdown
https://www.businessinsider.fr/us/inmates-riot-escape-from-italian-prisons-amid-coronavirus-restrictions-2020-3
https://www.wantedinmilan.com/news/coronavirus-italy-lockdown-causes-panic-buying.html
Fun times!
Kanye
@Kgar, There is perhaps no point repeating what I/we have already said more than once, nevertheless, here it is ... There is absolutely no dispute that the IIM had a militant component. But my point is, these were mostly minor irritants to the empire to be tackled by usual 'law enforcement' machinery. Having said that, I don't think you have got all the names right. Check your sources, check correctness of the names, share the sources. Did you mean 'Kakori conspiracy'?, 'Ram Prasad Bismil'? Gandhi was no way 'involved' in the Chauri Cahura incident. In fact, he called off the non-cooperation movement on Feb 12, 1922 after 25 ppl including 22 policemen were brunt alive on Feb 4 in Chauri Chaura (see Chauri Chaura on Wikipedia). Indeed, Gandhi had the courage to call off a mass movement at its peak because he did not agree with the means. Another aspect: the burning of the police was a spontaneous act of the crowd, not a part of the movement strategy. Again, please check your facts and share sources/refs.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Wafers everywhere, here’s your news perspective from Cascadia:
ReplyDeleteGabbard blasted the hypocrisy of the Democratic National Committee for doing a “disservice” to the American people by excluding her from the next “debate”:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/tulsi-gabbard-blasts-dnc-media-presidential-debate
With two delegates pledged to her, Gabbard says she remains in the race to influence the Democratic Party’s policies and positions:
https://www.newsweek.com/tulsi-gabbard-only-two-delegates-isnt-first-candidate-stay-race-this-long-1491334
Meanwhile, hustle to get your soon-to-be-collectors-item Tulsi Aloha 2020 stickers here:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/looselouis/works/30683060-tulsi-gabbard-2020?p=sticker&msclkid=21d53889b2cf1bdf9e3866ee14fdeeaf&gclid=CJ2f_42RkOgCFU-NxQIdjLEG6A&gclsrc=ds
Will Tulsism attract a third delegate from Washington State? Our primary is today (Mar 10) and I’ll be dancing the Wah-Tulsi while waiting for the results.
Jake-
ReplyDeleteShe may be the last, best hope for America. Go, Tulsi!
mb
@ trying to stay sane- As your linked article says, it seems most people only see some things when it starts to fall apart. Neoliberlaism is one name for a central part of the dominant order, and it has been in the process of mining the culture for decades.
ReplyDeleteHabermas's Legitimation Crisis is an interesting angle to view things from. How in hell anyone could believe that the Democratic or Republican Parties have any legitimacy as governing bodies is beyond me. They have both devolved to the Looting Class. Republicans are comfortable using guns and the power of the state. Democrats are using classic con man swindles to massage money out of willing marks. Both are simply grabbing what they can.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimation_crisis
Local community groups are starting to cancel regular meetings. I expect to see roaming bands of mendicants whipping themselves soon. I suggest everyone in the US read Lessing's Memoirs of a Survivor and McCarthy's The Road to be prepared. My recent exploratory readings on the Black Death in the 13-1400s is coming in handy, unfortunately.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteWill someone tell me why I'm supposed to give a wet turd abt this:
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/meghan-markle-final-royal-engagements-fashion/index.html
Jesus, what a douche baguette.
mb
Why not 6 patties?
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/10/business/mcdonalds-double-big-mac/index.html
Rare earth elements are required to create or maintain many of the technologies we use frequently (e.g. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-17357863).
ReplyDeleteThe extraction of rare earth element often involves serious physical exploitation of miners and is often "environmentally unfriendly." Given these facts, how do you reconcile your disapproval of smartphone use with the fact that you no doubt use many other technologies requiring rare earth elements?
Dan D - No doubt both political parties are conning their supporters into thinking that the parties exist to further their best interests. But if you're implying that the US political system might be in a legitimacy crisis, I don't see it. Americans are unaware they're being conned. They want to believe that their leaders are good and righteous persons and will cognitively bias-out any evidence to the contrary. To them, America is still a shining light of democracy and exceptionalism on a hill. Seeing the system as legitimate, they have no reason to question its legitimacy.
ReplyDeletePrepare to look in the mirror!
ReplyDeleteFrank Snowden is a professor emeritus of the history of medicine at Yale and author of Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present. An epidemic, he writes, “holds a mirror” to the civilization in which it occurs. This is a great interview: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/infectious-disease-hold-societies-really-are-on-the-media
Hello Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteHave come across your site recently and want a bit of advice. I have a chance to move to US with my family , to Bay Area. Not that keen since I have a good social circle here (family/friends), but my immigrant friends seem to be having a good time there (at least going by there social media posts/pictures etc ) and they don’t seem to have many complaints or see it the way that people describe here on your site. Isn’t US better in terms of a modern infrastructure and opportunities/ future for kids ? Am I missing something ?
Thanks,
Tulsi (friends with Portland Antifia) is a plant trained out of the same ilk and location as Obama - Honolulu maybe coincidentally where Snowden was "stationed"?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, everyone has a control file what's better than communism and capitalism (state sponsored usury), corruption and bureaucracy for the pathological "globalists". More ethno-state sedition here:
https://youtu.be/6QWAgv3Bs4w
Dr. Berman, that's what most (98.3%) dumber than dogshit Americans care about, and of course, their stocks in respect to the virus fad.
ReplyDeleteI am still wondering what happened to all the me tooers, the endless "news" cycles, the drum pounders, posters, and chanting passionately about Kavanaugh?
Where do they all go? What happened w/ all that "resistance" and "revolting?"
Dandelion spores (Berman).
Well, my first paid comedy gig was cancelled due to the virus. To be honest, it would have taken 1 1/2 hours to get there and they wanted 30 minutes of clean material (senior citizen home). I had around 20 minutes of material so schmaltzy it would have made Henny Youngman barf. By the end of my act I'm sure everyone would have agreed I was a nice Jewish boy-Ugg!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, comedy, theater, sporting events will limit audience size or cancel shows outright (Americans are so good at over-reacting). My girlfriend for 11 years now only wants to go to work, return to her home and hide under the covers so that's essentially over. It's a virtual earthquake here, doctor, and I don't see how it will ever change.
So Biden will be the nominee. Hey, "let all the poisons of the earth hatch out" (I Claudius). What a worthless phlegm ball he is. Amazing he did so well with the black vote. Didn't blacks remember how callous he was towards Anita Hill but then as Vidal said, it's the United States of Amnesia. Of course, Hair will destroy Biden as he is surely in early Alzheimers. Well, so is Hair but at least he's entertaining. Another worthless dem-shill for Wall Street, the Pentagon, the intelligence community, and Israel. Really, who needs stand-up comedy when you live in this joke of a nation?
Dan-
ReplyDeleteSchmernie has been crushed like a roach. Guess most Americans are not interested in 'socialism'. Gee, what a surprise. Only Tulsi can save us now. What a goofy snoozer Schmiden is; an absurd candidate, when you think abt it, and appropriate for a country that is basically asleep.
Checkmate-
Give it a shot, but be sure you've got a return ticket. If you make this irreversible, you'll regret it. And check back with me in 6 mos.
whack-
1st, I use very few hi-tech items. Computer, that's really it. I avoid all the rest. (It's hardly possible to be 100% pure, but one can make the effort.) 2nd, if u.r. the person who posted abt this yesterday, you provided all of my supposed answers in advance. So why not just review that list? That shd make u smug and happy.
mb
Cascadian greetings, Wafers. I am saddened to report that Tulsism apparently did not resonate with State of Washington voters as Gabbard took 0.8% of the presidential primary vote in the incomplete returns Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, Schmernie and Joe ran a dead heat (pun intended) with 33 percent of the vote each:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/biden-and-sanders-in-virtual-tie-in-washington-primary-as-biden-cruises-in-other-states/
Unless Tulsi is offered a visiting professorship at Evergreen College, regretfully I have danced my last Wah-Tulsi, and will now just be Biden my time as the incumbent agent of history with a slug of Corona (beer) resumes the program.
Hello MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeletePandemic Blues got you down?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J31YhSdH-tU
I just saw a guy at the grocery store w/a sixer of Corona. He said it was the best antidote for the virus. I said, "No one should hafta go thru the apocalypse sober, I suppose." We both laughed...
Toodles,
Miles
@Mike Kelly
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links.
I’m just talking about historical processes here. I'm not advocating anything.
My point is simply that various elements within social movements (figures, factions, tactics, protests/riots) cannot be fully understood if they are decontextualized. They necessarily play off each other as part of a dialectic.
@Ordinary Indian
Are you sure you want to nitpick spelling errors while explaining how people were “brunt alive” at ”Chauri Cahura”..?
Of course Gandhi *was* involved in CC —he felt responsibility & went to jail over it— as your own source (wikipedia) clearly explains. I never implied that the violence at CC was part of a strategy.
If the Brits thought the revolutionaries were “minor irritants” (an assertion w/o evidence) then they were obviously wrong. The Brits got the boot and entered a cycle of decline which continues to this day. Meanwhile, the revolutionaries became martyrs and national heroes (memorialized w/ statues, stamps, etc).
Source(already given): Terror and the Post-Colonial by Boehmer/Morton
Kgar-
ReplyDeleteI never read "Terror and the Post-Colonial," but the write up on Amazon doesn't say anything abt India or MLK. This will not work as documentary evidence, in other words, for the case you want to make...it's too general. (I'm guessing you yrself haven't read the bk.) Thus far you haven't provided any proof at all, and frankly, I doubt that such exists. Pls don't post again unless you are prepared to direct us to specific bks and articles by recognized experts abt violence and militancy in the work of Gandhi and MLK. Thank you. Your posts are nebulous, and for me pretty incoherent.
Jack-
I do believe there is an opening at Slippery Rock Community College: the Dunce Chair in Tulsaic Studies. Anyway, it is a relief that the political system finally flushed this turdette out. What a farce this was! A fraudulent, dishonest piece of crap, with literally no political following, decides she can and shd be president. What's not to urinate on, really?
Probably for reasons of racial demographics in swing states, there is a possibility Schmiden cd win. Which means we return to Obamaism, i.e. treading water while the ship slowly goes down. This wd be a terrible outcome, when Trumpi can do the job in quarter-time. I tell ya, in its never-ending effort to avoid reality, this country is hilarious.
mb
ps: this is not only the end of Schmernie, it is also the end of Schmernism. As for Schmiden, no vision at all: just a goofball with blinders on.
ReplyDeleteI always thought of the Norwegians as decent, friendly folks always happy to lend a stranger a hand in times of need. Now I have to question that belief. Leaked emails from the Miami office of Norwegian Cruise Lines reveals that the local manager has sent his sales staff suggested responses for use with reluctant customers should they bring up coronavirus. Among the suggestions, telling the fearful that coronavirus doesn’t tolerate the heat of Caribbean climes.
ReplyDeleteOn reflection, I have to believe that the owners are Americans. Or worse.
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/coronavirus-norwegian-cruise-line-leaked-emails-show-booking-strategy-11590056
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteI suppose that it's all over but the shouting, but I thought that you might be interested in hearing from Tulsi-
https://youtu.be/m3gZLODJ8Wk
(3 minute video, 3-11-20)
A MISERABLE Nation!
ReplyDeletehttps://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/487061-in-a-divided-america-misery-is-looking-for-company
Checkmate - Everyone who immigrates everywhere is replete with glowing stories about how was Teh Bets Thing Evar(tm) because of the sunk-cost fallacy. They won't even admit it to themselves until it's smack-in-the-fact evident that they moved to a cesspit if they moved to a cesspit. It takes a lot of humility to admit you're wrong. Plus if they're young and able to pull 60-hour weeks and still have energy for surf lessons, and are not worrying about saving for retirement etc., then it *can* be pretty fun even the more rapacious parts of the US.
ReplyDeleteDan - BUSKING. I can't buy a job with my trumpet on a stage but out busking it's a really good side gig. Better than Uber or anything, and tons more fun. You get to *relate* to people know what I mean mang?
Just watched Yesterday, a wonderful and sweet celebration of The Beatles, nice to see a little daylight in these dark times.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/yesterday-movie-review-beatles-852046/amp/
San Fran Update: Not exactly a ghost town, but the place is certainly relatively dead. Think "90's dot-com bust meets the AIDS crisis." And since we, as a humane and progressive culture, learned so much from those events, we are very well prepared to rise to the occasion of our current epidemic-to-be. Ahahahaa! Just kidding!
ReplyDeleteParanoia in the office. Amidst a backdrop of my bosses in triage as the markets tanked, they cancelled all "shared food platters" (i.e., bagels, catered lunch), canceled all non-essential Amazon deliveries, handshakes forbidden, no external meetings, no visitors to the office of any kind, and of course all travel cancelled. Every time someone coughed in our 'open-plan' workspace, you could hear a pin drop.
And then today, a case of covid was confirmed in the building, everyone was ordered to prep to work from home, which is fine because who in their right mind wants to get on public transportation at this point. They may shut the building entirely (40 floors, I think) - I guess it depends on whether more cases pop up, but all tenants were told to enact their business continuity plans. Oh, and all contractors were released with immediate effect, one of which was me.
In any event, your SF correspondent shall decamp to the hills, where I'll wait and see how the next month or so goes. More than happy get out of SF, if I may say so, but I can't believe we were beat to the "cluster" punch by Seattle and New Rochelle. And then Trumpolini squinting and wheezing his way through his "state of the crisis" speech tonight was the icing on the cake. What a difference a day makes!
@ trying- Although I understand what you mean, that Americans still see the government as legitimate, I also think that a large number, maybe most, know in their gut that it is falling apart and not legitimately dealing with the typical duties of government.
ReplyDeleteThe election of Trump was the biggest burp of swamp gas from the decaying culture so far. Probably the best 'proof' that no one takes the government seriously, so why not turn it into a combination cage match and game show carnival. And now we have a flacid old guy devoted to restoring the status quo of the 'good old days' of only ten years ago, slowly sliding into dementia, being put forward as a replacement for the flacid old guy devoted to restoring the status quo from fifty years ago, while having violent tantrums on a regular basis as he slides deeper into his own dementia.
Italy is suspending mortgage payments. US cities are demanding eviction moratoriums. Imagine the real estate developer President allowing such apostasy to happen-
https://www.forexlive.com/news/!/italy-to-suspend-payment-on-mortgages-to-individuals-and-households-20200310
https://www.marinij.com/2020/03/10/coronavirus-san-jose-adopts-moratorium-on-evictions-proposes-financial-aid-for-small-businesses/
Kgar-
ReplyDeleteFind another blog, one that can appreciate yr bizarre mode of discourse. Your thinking is muddled, and yr not able to come up with a single solid ref for your assertions, despite being asked repeatedly to do so. You've wasted our time with a lot of verbal diarrhea and incoherent arguments that cannot be substantiated. So long, muchacho, and godspeed. You can of course continue to post here, but I will delete yr messages unread. My god, life is too short for such crap.
Dan D-
My own prediction is that the election will be close, and Schmiden might just squeak out a victory. The problem then is that this will slow down (but not arrest) our decline, and also that it will give progs--a very dumb collection of turkeys--the supposed affirmation that Trumpi was but a temporary glitch, and that now we can go back to being the great and healthy country that we always were. Truth is, Trumpo is no glitch; he's very much what America is about.
mb