Wafers-
This blog began 14 years and 3 months ago, and we are now up to the 400th post. Monthly hits now number about 90,000; the total for those 14 years is nearly 5 million. Clearly, we are poised to take over the world. Can you imagine a Waferworld, where decency and integrity prevail? It's an inspiring thought.
Modesty aside, this is clearly the greatest blog in the universe. We soldier on, through thick and thin, pursuing the truth no matter where it leads. Occasionally I hear of people going to other blogs, and I just shake my head. Why in the world would anyone do such a thing, when this blog has it all? I remain completely baffled.
I predicted the demise of America in the
Twilight book, 20 years ago, and now it is upon us. The country will look radically different by 2030, and it's not going to be pretty. Of course, Americans are not very bright, so many of them believe the situation can be turned around. Which I have likened to trying to turn around an aircraft carrier in a bathtub. It just ain't gonna happen, as all of you know. The US was founded on faulty premises (hustling), and now the chickens are coming home to roost. The man in the White House is the consummate hustler, fully representative of Americans' deepest aspirations. The spiritual goal of the Middle Ages--salvation--has been replaced by secular salvation, i.e. money: to live in a big house, drive a Mercedes, own a private plane, and drink $20,000-bottles of wine. An empty life, a stupid life, and what almost all Americans think life is about. Pretty thin fare, when you think about it.
Tick tock, time is running out. Meanwhile, let all 172 of us celebrate the GBOE--Greatest Blog on Earth. America will go down the drain, but what we stand for will endure forever. It always has.
-mb
Berman & Wafers,
ReplyDeleteIt really is dangerous here in Don Trump’s America. 15 year old, 135 pound teenagers on bicycles are wreaking havoc and are threatening society. And so the only way to combat it is for a 6’2”, 235 pound police officer to grab these bicycle law breakers from behind by the neck and arrest them to ensure justice.
Thank goodness for law enforcement. Well, Don does say he is a law and order guy. USA! USA! USA!
https://lawandcrime.com/crazy/excessive-video-shows-new-jersey-police-manhandling-15-year-old-boy-who-was-riding-bike/Dr.
Wafers march on!
ReplyDeleteJust this evening, hit upon the BBC show Hard Talk in which the host (forget his name) was interviewing Angus Deaton. He was, of course, critical of Trump. But towards the end he boldly declared he is not against capitalism. He is all for it. Then something like: He is looking for the future of capitalism. Capitalism needs a fix so that it does not repeat the mistakes it made.
Fixing America, fixing Capitalism, fixing the Soviet-style Socialism-- all belong to the same universality class of impossibility. Moreover, with all their 'expert knowledge', Deaton and his ilk seem so far-removed from the lived experience of billions of people (not to mention the non-people animals) that it sounds like a cruel joke in the year 2020.
May be he should start by fixing these: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/27/fossil-fuels-oil-gas-industry-police-foundations
and
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/28/almost-3-billion-animals-affected-by-australian-megafires-report-shows-aoe
Joe-
ReplyDeletePls address me as Mr. Berman or GSWH. Thank you.
mb
O lente, lente currite noctis equi! -- so appropriate, since the phony leader of the phony democracy appears to have sold his soul to the devil, as did Marlowe's Faustus. And for those who still believe the situation will turn around, another Latin phrase comes to mind: deus ex machina.
ReplyDeleteHello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteSince we're getting all scholastic and Latin here, this passage, by Lady Ginger, comes to mind:
"Er'way in-hay the oney-may
Er'way in-hay the oney-may
Er'way ot-gay a-lay ot-lay of-way
Ut-way it-way akes-tay o-tay et-gay a-lay-ong-lay"
al-
ReplyDeleteDeeply moving.
mb
This is a response to Pierre's post from 399 and the warm, thoughtful responses to his post. I too can totally relate to being swayed between the American propaganda machine that I was raised in and the awakening that I have had upon reading this blog on a daily basis. I have been in corporate America for 20 years and a business owner for 18. I have found myself questioning why everyone in this society pursues "more" and I too have to catch myself. Its almost like you feel as though something is wrong with you if you are not trying to expand your income and net worth. However, Dr. Berman reminded me in his response; He reminded me that what is most fulfilling is the pursuit of a meaningful life. Thank you all for the perfectly timed posts. Its just what I needed at this particular time.
ReplyDeleteOTC-
ReplyDelete"There is no wealth but life"--John Ruskin. Also check out story #2 in "The Heart of the Matter," and the essay on "McFarland, USA" in AWTY. Remember that money has no intrinsic meaning, and that 'More' is not a spiritual path. I get by, month to month, and that's just fine; I'm hardly accumulating wealth. Searching for the truth, and taking care of people (even virtually) is my spiritual path. Which makes me happy as a pig in shit. But it did take me a long time to understand that the American value system is completely upside down, which is to say, anti-human.
mb
Thank you all for the very thoughtful responses. I will definitely try to incorporate some of the suggestions made here into my daily life. Dr. Berman, reading your books as well as Lewis Mumford’s books, which I was introduced to on this blog, have made a huge impact on my life. Just to echo your last comment, I have to try to remind myself to live for “optima” as opposed to the “maxima” obsession I see all around me.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to do it here in the US and most of the time I feel like I am pounding a square peg in to a round hole. But I have 2 middle schoolers whom I love dearly. They are both becomIng excellent critical thinkers themselves. So hopefully that can continue bringing me joy until I can one day get out of here!
To me these are the real issues, and the reason why watching the collapse of the US is becoming too emotional for me. Jimmy Dore reacts by being angry all the time lately, which I think it's justifiable, but I just get more and more depressed, so a bit of gallows humour is in order: here is George Carlin in an absolute classic. It's been probably posted in the blog before, but, I dare say, George Carlin (and Bill Hicks) can be watched again and again...
ReplyDeleteJoe - not surprising or particularly disturbing. Would have been 50 years ago but no longer. As we descend into irrelevance and decline, random, meaningless violence by both citizens and law enforcers will increase. Happens everyday in every state. Maybe a cry for help.
ReplyDeleteProven true once again for migrant workers the maxim that if you're not part of the economic and political system, you are nobody; you don't count; disposable - fodder for the machine; a replaceable part of the engine of capitalism. This has been reinforced for migrant workers picking America's vegetables and fruits in the way they've been treated by meat packing companies vis-a-sis C-19. See the recent Frontline segment (July) on PBS or YouTube and read the current edition of Jim Hightower's "Lowdown'. "When a corporation sets up a workplace that routinely results in maiming, mangling, sickening, disabling and even killing workers, those outcomes are not 'accidents'. They are intentional, immoral decisions by executives and investors to increase profits by treating the human beings who produce the corporate product as disposable."
This in the land of opportunity and equal treatment for all.
Case Studies in USian 'exceptionalism.'
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/aronberg/status/1281688027262320641/photo/1
Of course, they're fake cards and not issued by any US "government" authority.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-ne-fake-face-mask-exempt-card-20200711-oakoym3iazgntn2x6kjw6oq274-story.html
Joe hit the nail on the head there. Violence and domination for no good reason other than the desperation of the semi powerful.
ReplyDeleteReq-
ReplyDeleteA link or two wd help.
mb
O dem demons!:
ReplyDeletehttps://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/509421-doctor-retweeted-by-trump-has-warned-of-alien-dna-sex-with
Note to Jim-
ReplyDeleteYou can't check in as Anonymous. I don't post Anons on this blog. Pls arrange to show up as Jim, or perhaps some other handle, such as Professor Schmeisstuchus. Thank you.
mb
Speaking of Ruskin, great quote by him against the bourgeois 'meritocracy' of his time:
ReplyDelete“What then! Do you think the old practice, that ‘they should take who have the power, and they should keep who can,’ is less iniquitous, when the power has become power of brains instead of fist?”
And a Latin quote from the UK's Private Eye magazine, the motto of a rich fictional school IIRC:
"Quis Paget Entrat" - (Who Pays Gets In). At least it's honest, unlike the real mottos.
One more quote, I love this one - it's from a Catholic nun in the 1920s - another world:
"The utilitarian or servile arts enable one to be a servant - of another person, of the state, of a corporation, or of a business - and to earn a living. The liberal arts, in contrast, teach one how to live; they train the faculties and bring them to perfection; they enable a person to rise above his material environment to live an intellectual, a rational, and therefore a free life in gaining truth."
Sister Miriam Joseph, introduction to 'The Trivium'
Morris, I came across your work only last year (yes, I wandered aimlessly for 38 years before getting The Reenchantment of the World around Christmas 2018) and can honestly say no books have changed my world than your Consciousness trilogy. I even emailed you to thank you for them, and I never thank anyone for anything - least of all my parents for subjecting me to this hilarious experience. Currently reading Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances, a tough little nut to crack but can see why it has been a quiet inspiration for a lot of interesting books
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, just wanted to say thank you for the great work you've done, for changing how I fundamentally experience reality and for your continued acerbic analysis of the catastrophic collapse of the most terrible empire run by the most awful shower of bastards known to man.
Great analysis here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ianwelsh.net/american-social-collapse-is-far-closer-than-most-will-admit/
Conclusion:
"When America goes bad, it’s going to go bad in truly awful ways. Americans have over 300 million guns, and an ethos that says violence is not just OK, but good...
Protect yourself. Because if you’re American, odds are that within 10 years, no one else will. And it could be a lot less than ten years. Stop putting off whatever it is you need to do to protect yourself."
willy-
ReplyDeleteIf I remember correctly, Ian was a student of mine when I taught at the U of Victoria in the eighties. Someone of whom I can be proud, in any case. He and I agree that the end game isn't going to be pretty, and that it isn't far off. In the context he and I describe, we've got the media counting how many angels can dance on the head of a pin: AOC and women's rights, or whom Schmiden will pick as VP, or even who will win the election in Nov. If you have half a brain, you know that none of this matters. (Again, see "The Mandibles" for a likely scenario.) The nation has entered a phase where it's just beating off, and the so-called great minds of our day (NYT columnists et al.) can't seem to see it.
Paul-
Thanks for writing. I'm glad my work has been helpful 2u. If yr currently in need of a few laughs, try my latest, "The Heart of the Matter" (short stories).
Evil empires: 3rd Reich is #1, altho it lasted only 12 yrs. #2 would be the USSR. At least in America, if you make a joke ridiculing the state, you don't wind up in a gulag for 10 yrs. Or you can run a blog like this, and they don't come 4u (yet). But since 1945 or 46, we have used the evil of that empire to deflect attention from *our* evil, which is certainly real (e.g., check out the work of Stephen Kinzer). In any case, empire #3 is finally coming to an end, and abs. 0 can stop the collapse at this pt.
mb
Dr Berman and Wafers
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think Congress has the brain trust to take on
these guys? Talk about fish out of water and intellectual over reach.
Wow. Some probably have just found out that Zoom does not mean
just going fast but is also an app.
https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/894834512/big-tech-in-washingtons-hot-seat-what-you-need-to-know?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20200729&utm_term=4709618&utm_campaign=news&utm_id=47604500&orgid=
Willy and Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteGreat quote from Ian Welsh, "America is an un-developing nation, well on its way to being a failed state." I've learned so much from the GBOE. Keep the dialog coming.
I just sat with Godard's "King Lear" for the 1st time. Wow!
ReplyDeleteWafers: what's everybody's favorite Godard?
Dr. Berman & Wafers,
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Don Trump’s fake patriot goons don’t take too kindly to hearing about the atrocities we committed in Vietnam from someone who was there and witnessed it. The bully authoritarianism continues in the United States of America. When all else fails, pepper spray a Vietnam veteran who dares to criticize any of the despicable actions the United States has done. That’s because in these narrow-minded, fake patriots’ eyes, “we’re soooo good”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZq4zzVt8c
p.s. Dr. Berman,
I’m so sorry about yesterday’s error. I don’t know how it happened. I always make it a point to refer to you as “Dr.” before your last name since I respect and admire you so much. Perhaps the full copy and paste didn’t work somehow and I happened to miss it when I posted my comment. My bad.
But to make up for the mistake, I’d like to suggest to the other Wafers here ( who haven’t done so already) to go get Neurotic Beauty. Since arriving in the mail a couple of days ago, I haven’t been able to put it down. When reading it one immediately realizes that, contrary to the insipidness of the United States, there are other countries whose cultures show what living as a human being really is and should be. Dr. Berman outdid himself on this one! I highly recommend this book! :)
In the nature always wins department: cnn.com/2020/07/29/politics/louis-gohmert-test-positive-coronavirus/index
ReplyDeleteGohmert is a jackass. . .always was, always will be. But how to explain his followers? I know Dr. Berman that you say it's simply a question of stupidity. And I find it hard to argue with that. But I can't help feeling that mere stupidity does not explain it all. Something else has to be at work. I've posted before that we may all possess an unconscious belief that the end is upon us. That may explain, a bit at least, for this nonsense. In any event, decline and fall is ugly and depressing. Stay safe all.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteNot to worry. In the future, you can just address me as O Great One. Glad u.r. enjoying "Neurotic Beauty." For more on great cultures, check out "Genio". For more on Vietnam atrocities, Nick Turse, "Kill Anything That Moves."
mb
On the hollowing out of spirituality in the USA- evangelicals obsessed with power and macho bs
ReplyDeletehttps://thebaffler.com/latest/onward-christian-cowboys-hanson
Req-
ReplyDeleteCdn't run it. (No links)
Arthur-
Stupidity can be empirically demonstrated. No way of doing same w/unconscious beliefs. Tho you cd be rt.
mb
Hola OGO and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteSomething I love in Latin American cultures is we love to celebrate. So here's to
the GBOE--Greatest Blog on Earth!!!!
I pop in here to get a good belly laugh *Dr B has the gift of wit*, movie recommendations and a reminder of why I am so grateful I left the USA. I do not read our Corporate Masters or watch tv so without you guys I wouldn't have known about dem Karens! Dem Karens just forced Walmart to back down on mandatory masks as the management claims they are concerned about violence against their employees.
Congratulations Dr. B on this 400th post and many more.
I'm so grateful to have this Wafer Sanctuary.
MB - Sorry. The article was from email that I was reading about the same time and I thought mistakenly that it was posted on the blog. Here's the citation - No wonder you couldn't make sense of it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/stella-immanuel-trumps-new-covid-doctor-believes-in-alien-dna-demon-sperm-and-hydroxychloroquine
Req-
ReplyDeleteRx for not getting covid 19: forget abt masks or social distancing. Instead, if yr walking down the st. and u.c. an attractive demon coming toward you, cross the st.
Wanderer-
Thank u4 the tribute; I certainly deserve it. :-) There are days when I spend the entire afternoon sitting on my couch, contemplating my greatness.
Karens vs. Wal-Mart: no contest! Why? Because of KOOK (Karens Out Of Kontrol).
mb
In view of your greatness do we need to kowtow just before we start our posts? I'm not sure how many more knocks on the floor my poor head can take!
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note Geopolitics and Empire has an interesting interview with CJ Hopkins. The first 15 minutes is covid-19 stuff but about 15-minutes in it gets into they get into an analysis of global capitalism and how it dissolves and decodes all of a society's values to one - an exchange value.
And our GSWH gets a favorable mention.
https://youtu.be/92aVwScsK90
MB/M. Berman/Berman, Morris/Doc: your sense of humour yet remains a mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I was recently told by a friend across the country that they tutored a child whose mother informed my friend that the child's school no longer tests their students' spelling abilities due to the proliferation of automatic spell checkers. Again, I'm not even 30 and I remember being warned about an over-reliance on auto spell checkers twenty years ago when it was still a matter of clicking a button to run the spell check in your word processor (at that time it was Lotus WordPro).
Coming up on chapter four of your "Twilight" book. I think Kirsten Stewart was miscast in the movie. I'm considering posing a question about it that may be alarming. I'll wait on it though.
Anyone learning any languages around here? I've noticed some posters employing Latin recently. MB knows Spanish as well, et j'apprends le français.
Brahms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWkX9Wft7TM
Sog-
ReplyDeleteRegarding confusion over my name: O Center of the Known Universe might be the best 1 4u 2 use. I also answer to Your Celestial Magnificence. Not clear why my sense of humor wd be mysterious, tho.
Anjin-
My greatness is indeed inspiring, but no need to hurt yr head over it. Just when you get up, 1st thing, begin the day by saying, "O Celestial Magnificence! I am humbled by the light you shine on your hopeful minions, desperate for a clue as to how to live in this Godforsaken world!" Then just repeat this every time you check into the blog. Drooling on my metaphorical Guccis is also appreciated.
mb
This is gd:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/29/seth-rogen-israel-palestinians-jewish-actor
mb
O Celestial Magnificence-
ReplyDeleteI have just finished the 2nd chapter of ‘The Heart of the Matter’, namesake of the book itself. Your skill for funny, focused and concise storytelling is remarkable! I already feel this book, and all it’s nuggets of knowledge, is bound to change my life for the better.
On another note, a new ally to Waferdom has been thrust into the media spotlight! Do recount such thoughtful anti-American comments as “Kill those fucking Yankees” and “Kill them all slowly and painfully”.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kill-f-ing-yankees-psys-399245
Thos-
ReplyDeleteGlad yr enjoying it. I have no idea as to sales or popularity at the present moment, but hafta say it represents some of my best wrtg to date. These stories were not a struggle; they just seemed to flow uninhibited outta my pen (of course, most did require a fair amt of editing afterwards). They also proved to be the best amalgam of head and heart I have thus far achieved. I'm really proud of it, in other words, yet I'm not sure "I" wrote it--!
"There is no wealth but life"--John Ruskin
"The spirit of our days has to be delight in the life of the world"--Wm Morris
"People ask me what is my message. I have no message. My life is my message"--Gandhi
mb
ps: Wafers are encouraged to submit what they think wd be the most fabulous (and simultaneously accurate) headline the NYT might run. Here are a few of my own, just to get things going:
ReplyDeleteCOUNTRY, AND THE NYT, DOING LITTLE MORE THAN BEATING OFF
PAUL KRUGMAN DECLARES, "I'M A DOUCHE BAG"
DAVID BROOKS MOVES TO BORA BORA, DECLARES "I'M A USELESS PIECE OF SHIT"
THOMAS FRIEDMAN STICKS HEAD IN TOILET, AGREES TO STOP WRITING
THOMAS FRIEDMAN: 'I MIGHT BE A MORON, THE NEXT SIX MONTHS WILL TELL'
ReplyDeleteThings are looking pretty grim on the economic front in America. The U.S. is expected to report a record-breaking economic plunge.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oaoa.com/news/business/us-is-expected-to-report-a-record-breaking-economic-plunge/article_536aaa21-9a48-5bff-8549-1d3b28a363b1.html
TRUMP CANCELS ELECTION: "IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF TIME"
ReplyDeleteBIDEN AGREES WITH TRUMP ON ELECTION; CANCELS CAMPAIGN
MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS RETURN TO MEXICO: "U.S. IS A DUMPSTER FIRE"
BOLTON SUGGESTS "SURGICAL STRIKE" ON SELF TO IMPROVE INT'L RELATIONS
Cranston-
ReplyDeleteSCHMIDEN SWORN IN, DROOLS WHILE TAKING OATH OF OFFICE
BOLTON SAYS 'OW' AS PENTAGON LAUNCHES MISSILE UP HIS ASS
mb
NYT: THE CONDOM USED TO INSERT NEOLIBERAL ECONOMICS INTO THE MINDS OF THE AMERICAN UPPER CLASS
ReplyDeleteFRIEDMAN: SORRY TO THE WORKERS OF THE RUST BELT, MY HEAD WAS TOO FAR UP MY ASS TO SEE YOUR JOBS LEAVING DURING THE 1990s
BREAKING NEWS: COLUMNISTS WHO ENCOURAGED INVADING IRAQ AGREE TO DRIVE FORD FOCUS OVER AN IED.
Did I go to far?
Flab-
ReplyDeleteThat 1st one is rt on. Middle class too.
PRESIDENT-ELECT SCHMIDEN RAMS HEAD UP ASS, ROLLS AROUND LIKE DONUT ON WHITE HOUSE LAWN
KARENS SET TO TAKE OVER COUNTRY
mb
The Pivotal Irony of American Racism
ReplyDeletehttps://areomagazine.com/2020/07/29/the-pivotal-irony-of-american-racism/
ReplyDeleteTwo Karen jokes:
What did Karen say when the pandemic hit? Daddy, I need a new planet.
What did Karen say in the free food line? Filet mignon, rare please. And for dessert, creme brule' but make sure the top is crunchy.
Of Course He is...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8576513/Donald-Trump-suggests-DELAYING-election-claim-fraudulent.html
Right Wing Lunatic Fake Christian Pastor...
https://youtu.be/7ppW0W8bXJM
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on 14 yrs and the 400 post! It's been a helluva ride.
Future NYT Headlines:
TULSI GABBARD ANNOUNCES SHE IS PREGNANT WITH DEMON BABY
MYSTERIOUS DISINFECTANT FOUND IN SPERM
QUARANTINE BABIES PERCEIVED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO ZOLOFT
Miles
Dan-
ReplyDeleteGd, but how many Karens does it take to screw in a light bulb?
mb
Trump signs executive orders on drug pricing, resurrect rules on rebates, importation
ReplyDeletehttps://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/trump-expected-to-sign-executive-orders-drug-pricing-and-resurrect-rules-rebates-importation
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait omg lol what
A rare nuanced media piece:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/30/as-a-covid-19-survivor-i-dont-have-blind-faith-in-health-experts-heres-why
"Unquestioning trust in what the scientific community tells us is especially dangerous when it comes from the left, because it precludes important conversations about the ways these fields are inextricably linked to other structures of power that we are more eager to criticize."
Oh, and back to the real reason for existence:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2018/07/guide-to-jewish-deli-food.html
Dr. Berman & Wafers,
ReplyDeleteYou still have to hand it to Americans. They indeed are creative . They always can think up of new ways to hustle and make a quick buck. It doesn’t matter if it’s using this Airbnb rental company or posing as a doctor. LOL.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/07/27/NJ-police-shut-down-Airbnb-mansion-party-drawing-700-knuckleheads/6421595894147/
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/07/29/Utah-man-charged-with-posing-as-a-doctor-to-sell-fake-silver-based-COVID-19-cures/2851596006360/
p.s. “O Great One”, “Your Celestial Magnificence”, “O Center of the Known Universe”. Wafers, do you see what I started just for fouling up a copy & paste and accidentally leaving 3 typographical ( capital D, small r, and period) characters out? LOL. Well, here’s another name for our good Doctor— with the universe in mind and it starting with a gigantic explosion—I just thought up: How about “The Big M”!
p.p.s. A New York Times headline suggestion: TRUMP FIRES JOHN ROBERTS; APPOINTS VIA EXECUTIVE ORDER KIM KARDASHIAN AS THE NEW CHIEF JUSTICE
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the citizens of Ubeki-beki-bekistan are breathing a little easier today.
Jos.: "The Big M" has been taken. See Frank Mahovlich.
Future records in the Chinese archives will mention an obscure, yet powerful tyrant known by his contemporaries as "The Mighty and Terrible Belman."
Joe-
ReplyDeleteI like 'Big Mo' better. As in, "O Big Mo! How did we sink so low?"
Pastrami-
I think the crucial issue is that too many people are having sex with demons. (Or maybe it's Karens; hard to tell)
mb
Hola O Great One,Your Celestial Magnificence, O Center of the Known Universe and Wafers!
ReplyDeleteNYT Headlines:
Contact Tracers Invade Homes of People Not Living in Fear
Barnes & Noble Moves Post-Apocalyptical Fiction to Current Affairs
Fauci's Modena Vaccine Trial: 85% of Men Report Reduction in Penis Size
*reminder they skipped animal trials
Movie suggestion: PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU)
Because it's beautiful and thought provoking; food for our souls
Revival of the medieval blood libel:
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/30/uk/online-anti-semitism-intl-scli-gbr/index.html
Clearly, the Jews are responsible for everything.
Wanderer-
WEARING MASKS LEADS TO AN OUTBREAK OF GIGANTIC PENISES! ACROSS THE WORLD, WOMEN ARE ECSTATIC!
al-
"Come on without
Come on within
You'll not see nothing like the Mighty Berm"
He operated behind the scenes; he overthrew empires. Up in the sky! It's a bird...
Joe-
KIM KARDASHIAN'S BUTTOCKS TO APPEAR ON NEW DOLLAR BILL
MB
ps: Herman Cain just left the planet. His dying words were, "Preserve the 999 Plan."
ReplyDeleteHuh, how counterintuitive: People who have over 10 million dollars are happier than those who have 1-2 million. The connection between money and happiness exists at the highest levels, it appears.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inc.com/peter-cohan/will-10-million-make-you-happier-harvard-says-yes-if-you-make-it-yourself-give-it-away.html
I remembered this npr interview I listened to a few years ago that may be of interest:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2017/01/25/511507434/why-some-silicon-valley-tech-executives-are-bunkering-down-for-doomsday
The gist is that America's wealthy tech people are preparing for the end of the U.S. by building doomsday bunkers- while at the same time talking about the glorious future technology is going to bring us. The interview was in 2017 and there are a lot of relevant topics brought up that apply to what is going in the world right now.
Sad news in the us empire. another one due to Tom Hanks Disease-
ReplyDeletehttps://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-07-30/herman-cain-former-gop-presidential-candidate-dies-after-coronavirus-battle
What will ever become of that amazing 9-9-9 plan?!? Such interesting and provocative USian "thinking!" It was a mere 8 years ago?! So, so disappointed.... Tulsi, Fiorina, et al.--any thoughts?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9%E2%80%939%E2%80%939_Plan
Paraphrasing GSWH, '..like dandelion spores, they all fade away-disappear (Berman).' Would add USians fade away like stale elevator flatus.
Dr. Shit-
ReplyDeleteLike John Lewis, Herman Cain will lie in state in the Capitol rotunda, as a great visionary, and a cutting-edge intellect. The 999 Plan will never die, but live on in the hearts of all Americans. Possibly more than anyone since Lincoln, Herman represents what America is all about. Altho Dr. Stella Immanuel is surely a close 2nd.
mb
jj-
ReplyDeleteWill the gov't ever take my advice? As the Reverend pts out, the protesters are black Islamic jihadist communist homosexuals, and need to be expunged. But how many times have I urged Trumpi to arm the citizenry to the teeth, and then tell 'em to just go out and shoot anybody they want to? Surely, this would solve a lot of our problems. But does he listen to me? No!
I remain an unsung hero.
mb
Feinstein: China Is 'Growing Into a Respectable Nation' https://freebeacon.com/democrats/feinstein-china-is-growing-into-a-respectable-nation/amp/
ReplyDeleteOur politicians are on the moon.
Pandemic shmandemic, there’s money to be made here
ReplyDeleteThe Moderna company got the government to pay $483 million for the pre-clinical research on a COVID-19 vaccine, and $472 million for the Phase 3 trials, and...(wait for it)...to grant the company a patent monopoly. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says he’s got it covered: we just add another shift at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/30/moderna-shows-all-those-lazy-unemployed-workers-how-to-really-rip-off-the-government/
If you need a primary care physician, I hear the good Dr Immanuel is taking patients again. But only demons with really good insurance. No medicare witches, either. Although she has promised to see free of charge women who developed gynecological problems from having sex with demons.
ReplyDeleteShe will also perform free eye transplants that allow persons to see the aliens who are really running the country. Finally, Dr. Immanuel (which now stands for "Bat-shit crazy has come to town") is looking for volunteers to test a new drug that would counteract the new government vaccine that prevents people from becoming religious. Alleluia! St Stella saves.
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteHere's a year 2016 list of countries where you can buy citizenship-
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/countries-selling-citizenship/
(Scroll down a little to see a chart.)
Looks like Dominica is the least expensive.
Req-
ReplyDeleteDr. Im may have saved my life. I've been having a lot of sex lately w/demons. Time to discontinue this, I guess.
mb
Comment re: the demon "Dr."
ReplyDelete"Dr" Immanuel is emblematic of the typical US immigrant (brainwashed sucker)-sans the pograms and pre 1924 immigration policies. A hu$tler and huckster, bidazzled /starry eyed by the amount of riches one can get by conning the idiot US masses. Economic immigrants. Were they fleeing persecution, torture, malicious prosecution, etc..etc..naaah. Just come on down to the US and get. that. money! Big house, luxe car, and lots of other shit to fill that emptiness.
Glans-
ReplyDeleteI think it's impt that people of true expertise be given high positions of office in the Trump admin. Dr. Immanuel is just such a person. Cutting-edge intellect, visionary outlook. Trumpi wd do well to dump Pence and replace him w/Dr. Im. "Stella Stella..." (Streetcar Named Desire; also repeated in a Seinfeld episode)
O dem demons!
O dem bubbas!
O dem Karens!
O dem progs!
O dat country goin' down the drain! (Save us, Tulsi; I beg of you)
mb
Ah, the Sovereign American, perhaps determining a "right" to housing? That face, oh that face.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.zerohedge.com/political/connecticut-man-charged-decapitating-his-landlord-samurai-sword
MB, your saying "these are your neighbors" is getting quite scary.
comrade-
ReplyDeleteSheesh. Personally, I think cutting off yr landlord's head over a matter of unpaid rent is just a tad overreactive. However, this *is* America.
mb
Comrade: a diamond in the rough article there, ZeroHedge has always drove me nuts with their pro-capitalist, money = good crap ... but, for another good one, I saw this further down the page:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.zerohedge.com/political/not-onion-michigan-inn-forced-remove-norwegian-flag-because-it-resembles-confederate
if true, and jeebus knows you cannot trust anything on the internet, that's a new low!
Big Mo's Headline:
ReplyDeleteKIM KARDASHIAN'S BUTTOCKS TO APPEAR ON NEW DOLLAR BILL
Further down in the Metro Section (if that's still a thing):
IN KIM'S ASS WE LUST - The true story of how one woman's heinie became a nation's currency by Richy Glans III
Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI'm saddened by the loss of one of America's greatest intellects, Herman Cain. I always wondered if his 9-9-9 plan was prophetic. Perhaps it meant 9 years, 9 months, and 9 days until America's final demise? Or 999 Wafers vs 300 million buffoons? Or a $9.99 special price for an AR-15? I guess we'll never know.
Funniest headline ever: "Republicans to Trump: You can't delay 2020 election"
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53599363
^^ They'll do the complete opposite of what they're opposing. One step closer to cancelling the 2024 elections.
willy-
ReplyDeleteA CREVICE FOR ALL SEASONS
mb
the wit and intelligence at this blog is beyond remarkable... and while I hate to disrupt the Kim K thread, who appears to be the butt of many great headlines here, I did want to add to James Allen's Pandemic shmandemic, there’s money to be made here.
ReplyDeletePersonally I'll wait a couple years...remember the Swine Flu vaccine?
"Every prior coronavirus vaccine has proven problematic and can be lethal to animals due to COVID’s unique penchant for “pathogenic priming.” Death occurs only after a vaccinated animal encounters the wild virus. Public health advocates and scientists criticized Fauci’s decision to skip animal trials as reckless. It may also explain why Anthony Fauci arranged a $483 million grant to Moderna from a sister NIH agency, BARDA, despite the fact that Moderna has never brought a product to market or gotten approval."
https://www.globalresearch.ca/new-docs-nih-owns-half-moderna-vaccine/5718062
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteDeep inside Kim's buttocks you will find the future of America. Only Tulsi and the 999 Plan can save us now. And where, my fellow Americans, are the voices of intellectual giants such as Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Dan Quayle, and Ging Newtrich, at this crucial pt in our history? Only America is capable of producing leaders of such caliber.
"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo, woo, woo
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Jolting Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey"
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteFuture NYT Headline (and bit of the article):
OBSCURE AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL WINS NOBEL PRIZE:
For his influential work on the decline and fall of the United States, historian Morris Berman wins Nobel Prize. In a trilogy series detailing the history of the US, Mr. Berman sounded the alarm about persistent problems found within the American system which has led to its collapse. Tilden Katz of the New Yorker indicated that Mr. Berman's work was overlooked at first, but deserves reevaluation and further scrutiny. Hannah Falkowitz, executive editor of the NY Times, stated that, "Morris Berman, quite frankly, details how America became lost and adrift from its infancy to today. His greatest insight is his characterization of Americans as a collection of morons. And guess what? He's absolutely correct on both fronts. I would even also place myself in the moron category thanks to his work." Mr. Berman's residence at the time of the award is Mexico City, Mexico.
HOLY SHIT: DHS compiled intelligence report “baseball cards”—the kinds used to hunt al Qaeda terrorists and Saddam Hussein & co—on protestors and reporters. What a horrifying scoop by The Washington Post
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
The number of gov't agencies that should be disbanded (with legitimate functions dispersed elsewhere) continues to grow. Homeland Security high on the list.
Shawn-
ReplyDeleteAs w/the unmarked vans and federal goons, this is de facto martial law. De jure is only a few yrs away.
Jeff-
Of course a Nobel for me is long overdue, but probably won't occur in my lifetime (or ever). However, I still maintain that the Chinese, decades from now, will dig my work outta the ruins of the NYPL and exclaim: "This guy Belman! He had it rt all along!" Is there a Cassandra Prize?
mb
Have been wondering since morning. Just till a few years ago, may be even a few months ago America was exporting democracy to the world, even if that required holding a gun at their heads. And now, suddenly, a good part of America, including three ex-presidents, is worried about American democracy. Irony!
ReplyDeleteMB, in your list of evil empires, where would the present Chinese regime be?
Wafers, on a slightly positive note, once we are done with the US collapse, what would you like to preserve of the American culture? My first choice will be jazz.
Dr. Berman, having been a long time admirer I notice your use of "hustler" quite frequently to depict the american character. Truly and apt description and the word reminds me of the great fifties movie of the same name with Paul Newman, George C. Scott, and Jackie Gleason.
ReplyDeleteNewman plays a pool player hustler who is on top of his game running a con on small time players to get buy. He hires Scott as his manager and in the quest for big money sees his girlfriend seduced and raped by Scott behind his back. He wakes up and learns that playing for greed, ego, and the desire to win at all costs does not work. Ultimately he plays Gleason (Minnesota Fats) for the whole enchilada. At the end, he wins the big pot and walks out knowing that he is out of the game for good. A great story and great, great acting.
If only America could have this kind of emotional catharsis. We are stuck in a culture that only values money and "getting ahead". Most are sleepwalkers in the metaphorical Platonic cave, but not seeing the shadows on the wall. My best friend once told me that America is like a big Mack truck barreling down the highway at you. You have to know when to get out the way. That time is now.
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDelete@Shawn. Was that "scoop" comment sarcasm, because the baseball cards were known about at the time.
Speaking of baseball, and Joe DiMaggio, there must be a metaphor for the USA in there somewhere (think of Robert DeNiro in "The Untouchables").
I quit following major league baseball after the Expos folded, but I still see the highlights on the sports shows. One highlight that is often shown is that of an outfielder diving to make a catch. Here's a sign of the decline of the USA. You never saw Joe DiMaggio dive to make a catch. A good outfielder runs to get under the ball and catches it standing up.
The outfield dive is fluff - mere showboating - and an example of symbol over reality, and it's becoming ever more common.
I’m sure WAFers will want to join me in expressing thanks to the animation department and to the corporate suits at Time Warner for their decision to Just Say No to guns in their cartoons.
ReplyDeleteI’m embarrassed to say I only just learned about this decision, but there you are. What steps did the conglomerate take? The new Looney Tunes cartoons appearing on the newly launched HBO Max platform will feature an rifle-less Elmer Fudd, and a revolverless Yosemite Sam. A spokesman did acknowledge that the cartoons will not be totally violence free, pointing to the fact that dynamite—Acme, natch—will still feature in the Roadrunner-Coyote clashes. For now, at any rate. When rifles and revolvers disappear, can TNT be far behind? That’s all folks.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elmer-fudd-yosemite-sam-guns/
Indian-
ReplyDeleteGiven their brutal treatment of Muslims, pretty high up on the evil scale. Also check this out:
http://morrisberman.blogspot.com/2013/08/preface-to-chinese-edition-of-why_29.html
mb
Ordinary Indian, I'd definitely say that Film Noir, for example, is also a really worthy American contribution to the universal history of culture. So many great movies from that era, before the witch hunt snuffed the spirit out of Hollywood... It's easy to forget these days that even Disney made in the beginning movies that can be justly called works of art, like the original versions of Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, etc. Yes, they're not very socially conscious, but not all art has to be.
ReplyDeleteps: rock n roll; also, until 1924 (quota law), the US threw its arms open to those who were religiously or politically oppressed. A haven, in short. My family just made it under the wire: 1920-21, and I wdn't be here w/o the American largesse.
ReplyDeleteWaferinos-
ReplyDeleteI studied classical guitar for 3 yrs, and got fairly gd: played pieces by Bach and Villa-Lobos. But there were 2 mountains I wanted to climb, and never managed it, because it takes more than 3 yrs of study to do so (unless you have nothing else to do). One was "Variations on a Theme by Mozart" (Sor); the other, "Monsieur's Almaine" (Bachelar):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-trHQ6TDZ-Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKdKJSNYRjg
--my Everests! Enjoy.
mb
Hi Dr. B and WAFERS
ReplyDeleteGiven the increasingly grim condition of American society, I thought I would recommend an inspiring resource I discovered a couple of years ago: the SHAREABLE website, which I believe is San Francisco based: https://www.shareable.net/. I highly recommend subscribing to its newsletter. Recently they published a 10 books to read this summer list. Of these the one that interests me the most is Fabian Scheidler's The End of the Megamachine: A Short History of a Failing Civilization: https://www.megamaschine.org/en/. I would think his book could be effectively read alongside or as a compliment to your trilogies and books, Dr. B.
-Northern Johnny
P.S. Toronto officially entered into 'Stage 3' of the post-COVID-19 reopening today, which means malls, bars, gyms, restaurants, cinemas, and music theatres are allowed to come online again, provided they practice physical distancing and limit capacity. Will these measures lead to a fresh outbreak? Only time will tell. As well, our provincial government has just announced that elementary age children will be returning to public schools full-time this fall. Needless to say, the teacher's unions are not impressed and there is likely to be a struggle over how well this return is funded.
Johnny-
ReplyDeleteLooks gd. Might be read in tandem w/work of Lewis Mumford. It's amazing how people buy into technology as salvation, when it's actually killing them. Check out WAF, ch. 3.
mb
Best large scale example of lack of cognitive empathy: US foreign policy.
ReplyDeleteI tend to visit odd corners of the web. Here's a nugget that cracked me up.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/i/status/1276943829455843330
Hang in there, Wafers; it's all spectacle.
comrade-
ReplyDeleteSpectacle, but of the beating off kind.
Helena-
Welcome to the blog. We need fresh blood (for our matzohs). However, in future try to avoid one-liners; they add 0 to the discussion. Some guidelines: avoid huge, sweeping statements. If you have an argument to make, pick a specific pt, and defend it w/evidence (provide links to bks and articles). That's the way to contribute. Thank you.
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteThe Australians making fun of the USA-
https://youtu.be/dpIkl2QnJeI
"Honest Government Ad"
I tried to deposit my paycheck today and it seems the window of time the ATM is accepting deposits is getting narrower and narrower. I think it may be only when the bank is "open" (you can even go in the lobby if you make an appointment).
ReplyDeleteMoney feels less and less real. 9mm ammo is no longer a thing, and .22 becoming so. Got 400 rounds more .22 the other day and today got some .22 nail gun blanks to use with pellets if it comes to that.
mb - That Israel article is just the kind of pabulum anti-Semitic Americans gobble up. I just learned the land I'm sitting on was once lived on by Ohlone Indians. Time to pack and go! Wait, cut me in half and ship half to England and half to Lithuania. Utter depopulation of the US except for remaining Aboriginals in 3...2...1... TL;DR: Cry me a fucking river and am Israel chai.
Since the philosophy of the American is basically pragmatism, they are always in a state of agitation, doing whatever comes to their mind, even if their actions have no meaningful end. They talk, eat, run, dance, use their hands, eyes, ears and mouth to avoid thinking about their inner anxiety, their great suffering.... It is rare to find a calm American, at peace with life and with themselves.
ReplyDeleteexcerpted from Norberto Keppe, The decline of the American people (and the US) 1986 (originally published in Portuguese in Brazil).
alex-
ReplyDeleteA Howitzer might be more effective.
Birn-
Fabulous video. Touche!
mb
David-
ReplyDeleteLinks are always helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Decay-American-People-United-States/dp/8570720068/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1A0HWGGB9NW2Z&dchild=1&keywords=norberto+keppe&qid=1596256960&s=books&sprefix=norberto+keppe%2Caps%2C386&sr=1-6
mb
@Ordinary Indian,
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of classic American literature is worth preserving. Just one of many recommendations would be “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville. “Moby Dick” is a very Waferish book, by the way. Dr. Berman even mentions “Moby Dick” in “Why America Failed” if I remember correctly. I also enjoy Edgar Allan Poe.
@ Malleus Maleficarum,
I agree with you about classic Hollywood. There are many great films from the classic era of Hollywood. I don’t see too many modern Hollywood films these days.
For the Kantians in the audience:
ReplyDelete“The Last Days of Immanuel Kant,” a Physical Comedy of the Philosophical Life | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/what-to-stream-the-last-days-of-immanuel-kant-a-physical-comedy-of-the-philosophical-life
As August 6 approaches, the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, let us take a moment to recognize yet another way the USA stands alone in world history (up to now and hopefully into the future).
ReplyDeleteA movie produced by the US military. A fairly objective look at the effects of the bombs using film and photos shot by Japanese at the sites. Including human bodies dead and alive, so be prepared, especially as it gets into the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arONMWblvG8&has_verified=1
Obama committed the US to rebuilding and updating its nuclear arsenal for 1 trillion dollars plus. This must be a good thing because he was given the Nobel Peace Prize, yes?
https://billmoyers.com/story/the-trillion-dollar-question-the-media-have-neglected-to-ask-presidential-candidates/
Underage girl forced to have sex with Prince Andrew, US court document claims
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/31/underage-girl-forced-to-have-sex-with-prince-andrew-us-court-document-jeffrey-epstein
Let’s see if we are equal before the law. Presumably he’ll at least have some questions to answer. More circumstantial evidence of Clinton being on the island to, where he has previously denied to have ever been to.
More late stage plutocracy coming to a head.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMetaphor for the nation dept.:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/circle-k/circle-k-jerk-386052
Steven Lee Donovan, 22, arrested for playin' the five-on-one inside his car parked outside a Circle-K.
Miles
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteI dunno alex, if you're on a tight budget, a do-it-yourself trick would be to make your own antipersonnel mines out of recycled tin cans and nails, just like the Vietnamese used to do. You'd be creating effective weaponry while at the same time helping out the environment.
Regarding that CNN article on the rise of antisemitism caused by the suspicion that Jews are spreading the virus, I ask you a favour, GSWH. The next time you attend a secret meeting of the cabal, could you ask the others to cut it out?
al-
ReplyDeleteDepends on what you mean by 'it'. Meanwhile, check out 2nd story of "The Heart of the Matter."
Jeff-
And jus' look at that face, fer chrissakes.
mb
Hello, Wafers and MB:
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Jeffrey Epstein affair, here's a revealing discussion from CN Live featuring Whitney Webb, who has been following the case for years.
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/07/09/watch-cn-live-will-maxwell-sing-with-whitney-webb-ari-ben-menashe/
When one understands how government, intelligence, drug scams and sexual blackmail, trafficking and abuse are all tied together and that the threads connect to every well-known American pol and CEO one knows, then it makes perfect sense that American decline is inevitable. Don't bother with the last section with Ari Ben Menashe.
MB, Tom & Malleus, thank you all for pointing out things that are truly America's great contributions to human culture. I haven't watched too many films of the Neo-noir genre, but I guess films like 'Chinatown', or 'Some like it hot' are the ones you are talking about. Have watched the latter over and over. Watched Chinatown a second time just a couple of weeks ago. Moving!
ReplyDeleteAnd I was just about to mention literature. Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Mark Twain, O. Henry, Ambrose Bierce .... 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' is one of my great favorites. And yes, MB enticed me to read 'Moby Dick'.
Under the heading “We weren’t doing all that well down here, gravity was really holding us down, but we’re gonna do better in space. We promise.”
ReplyDelete“Space is now a distinct warfighting domain,” says the U.S. Defense Space Strategy. (The Defense Space Strategy, announced in a press release on 17 June 2020, identifies how the Defense Department “will advance spacepower to be able to compete, deter, and win in a complex security environment characterized by great power competition.”)
Space Force Warriors, charge your retro-thrusters. Prepare to engage.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/31/the-space-wars-have-begun/
Jas-
ReplyDeleteSolving problems of space is nothing compared to figuring out why Americans are so stupid and destructive. There are so many planets for us to poison!
mb
@ordinary Indian: added to the aforementioned cultural works, I would add: The poems of Emily Dickinson and the works of F scottt fitzgerald and William Faulkner. the films of preston sturges and John Ford. The artwork of George Inness and Edward Hopper.You'd probaly have to include NASA during the space race too.
ReplyDeleteWafers-
ReplyDeleteBig in the news these days: who will Schmiden pick for his running mate? Ooh, ooh, I'm on the edge of my seat.
mb
2 worthwhile miniature essaya.
ReplyDelete1st on the moral good of globalization. 2nd on the incoherence of the anti China left (and the Trumpi right).
https://nonzero.substack.com/p/nzn23-is-globalization-over
MB
ReplyDeleteI checked out the Classical guitar music - good stuff. You should continue, bit by bit, you'll retain the knowledge and you could share your music with your loved ones. You are also invited to post to YouTube and share here as well.
I chose the piano route for expressing Classical (still just a novice) as guitar, at the time, was too physically asymmetric for my tastes. These days I don't mind.
Question: Do you have an argument against nihilism?
Of Course they did....Trump and the Repuglicans have emboldened all the Far Right Neo-Nazi’s, Neo-Fascists, and White Supremacists.
ReplyDeleteCouple who yelled 'white power' at Black man and his girlfriend arrested..
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/couple-who-yelled-white-power-black-man-his-girlfriend-arrested-n1235586
Sog-
ReplyDeleteThis is (I think) one of the Bach pieces I learned, altho my rendition was not quite up to that of Julian Bream's:
https://www.facebook.com/historyofmusic2016/videos/bach-little-prelude-bwv-999-julian-bream/1121361684698120/
What magic! And surely, an antidote to nihilism, along w/a pastrami sandwich at Canter's in LA.
mb
Hello! On the topic of American contributions to culture, I'd like to add the California poet, short story writer, and proto-Wafer, Clark Ashton Smith:
ReplyDeleteDESERT DWELLER.
[From THE DARK CHATEAU. Arkham House, 1951.]
There is no room in any town (he said)
To house the towering hugeness of my dream.
It straitens me to sleep in any bed
Whose foot is nearer than the night's extreme.
There is too much of solitude in crowds
For one who has been where constellations teem,
Where boulders meet with boulders, and the clouds
And hills convene; who has talked at evening
With mountains clad in many-colored shrouds.
Men pity me for the scant gold I bring:
Unguessed within my heart the solar glare
On monstrous gems that lit my journeying.
They deem the desert flowerless and bare,
Who have not seen above their heads unfold
The vast, inverted lotus of blue air;
Nor know what Hanging Gardens I behold
With half-shut eyes between the earth and moon
In topless iridescent tiers unrolled.
For them, the planted fields, their veriest boon;
For me, the verdure of inviolate grass
In far mirages vanishing at noon.
For them, the mellowed strings, the strident brass,
The cry of love, the clangor of great horns,
The thunder-burdened ways where thousands pass.
For me, the silence welling from dark urns,
From fountains past the utmost world and sun...
To overflow some day the desert bourns...
And take the sounding cities one by one.
So, here is members of BLM showing their muscle.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/08/01/louisville-cuban-community-rally-support-la-bodeguita-de-mima/5562669002/
Basically, the local activists are demanding an immigrant-owned and operated business diversify its staff and induct itself in Diversity and Inclusion training... I feel like the USA is going to become Yugoslavia and the Bubba's will play the role of the Serbian Chetniks.
Greetings Dr. Berman & Wafers. It’s Karen Sunday! Here are some more examples of the “fair sex” in the United States showing “high class”, “good manners”, and “high decorum”. LOL! Enjoy!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvU9ceRAUss
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lraPna5Px78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcTlKaCYid8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEC2BFZhgOo
Joe-
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy: I love the Karens. To me, they are the True America.
Nesim-
This kinda thing is gonna hurt BLM badly; it will deepen the backlash that already exists. The only thing I don't get is, why pick on an immigrant Cuban family? Why not a white-owned restaurant? That wd surely make more sense (from a BLM pt of view).
All in all: what a sad, stupid place America is.
mb
Another one of my favorites, tho not for guitar:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWYIY3icUg
Nesim, pretty unfortunate move by BLM. Their core grievances are of course entirely legitimate, but they've fallen into very-American style political tactics here. Like if you ask a very young child to do something they don't want to do, or refuse them something, a lot of the time they respond with a tantrum. Kind of understandable, I mean they are children and don't have fully formed brains or any wider understanding of the world - history, science, whatever. The problem is most Americans have not advanced very far beyond the child stage, politically speaking. So when confronted with anything complex, the response is child-like anger. Best example rn is probably people getting into fistfights over being asked to wear a mask or protesting lockdowns because they "need a haircut".
ReplyDeleteRe: American Serbia, check this out https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Dodge-Hell-Neal-Stephenson/dp/006245871X/ . Its mostly a novel about a digital-afterlife (ie BS). But in the novel's real world, much of America's heartland has become a shattered wasteland, where you need armed security escorts to pass through. Probably the most realistic part of the book hah.
https://youtu.be/2DTF2YuxFxo
ReplyDeleteOf course Jesse Ventura is rambling on RT
Thanks cormorant & Mark. Enjoyed the poem. I would also like to add the American universities, or the culture they developed, notwithstanding their dilution in the Neo-liberal age. It is for a reason that the best from around the world still flock those campuses. I am particularly talking about the grad schools.
ReplyDeleteMB, I am increasingly being convinced that once we are done with them (I may not be alive then), the present ruling party here will have created a regime which will not be far behind China on the evil index. But China and India being fundamentally different (as I still believe) I am hopeful that we will not be able to do the catching up.
Unusual, for a woman:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WMuzhQXJoY&t=512s
(We cd use a few more of them!)
mb
Hi Dr. B and WAFERS:
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to everyone taking stock of those aspects of American culture that are still and that will continue to be worth celebrating. Thought I would add my 3 cents to this discussion and single out the writers Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter), Thoreau (Walden), Whitman (Leaves of Grass), Nabokov (Pale Fire), Pynchon (The Crying of Lot 49), and McCarthy (The Road). I also have to add that I consider Terrence Malick's first trilogy of films (The Thin Red Line, 1998; The New World, 2005; The Tree of Life, 2010) to be most significant body of work in American and indeed world cinema created since the 1970s.
Northern Johnny
The world’s wealthiest family gets $1 billion richer every two weeks
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bloomberg.com/features/richest-families-in-the-world/
Who needs an inheritance tax, anyway?
Johnny-
ReplyDeleteNabokov was really Russian, despite writing in English.
mb
Your local paper keeps people honest:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/7-28-2020/In-praise-of-the-primitive--/
I only read the "dead tree edition" of my city paper, and listen to world news from CBC and BBC and Al Jazeera etc.
Everything else is full of shit.
Friendliness and Cooperation Are Secrets of Humans' Success
ReplyDeleteAn interview with Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods about their riveting new book.
Turns out the American way of life isn't how humanity survived for millennia. This looks like a great read.
Wil-
ReplyDeleteIt's helpful to our readers to supply links; in this case, to the interview, and to the bk. Thank you.
mb
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202007/friendliness-and-cooperation-are-secrets-humans-success
ReplyDeleteApologies Professor!
Everyone seems to be finally getting it: commondreams.org/views/2020/08/02/futile-dialogue-what-would-socrates-do
ReplyDeleteWe have reached the end of the line.
My burger and fries better be ready in 2 seconds or i'll pop a cap on yo ass
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/florida-burger-king-worker-shot-and-killed-over-slow-order-authorities-say/67-a465e586-9570-4674-b495-b738e1765c19
only in America
Krak-
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tormes on this one. Food delays are completely inexcusable.
Arthur-
Sure, but have you ever tried talking to a prog?
mb
mb - the Black/Hispanic divide is at least as deep as the black/white divide in the US. So, for BLM'ers, picking on an immigrant Cuban family is par for the course.
ReplyDeleteAOC demanding the that statue of Father Damien in Hawaii be taken down is idiocy. I was going to say he'd the closest thing to a saint to come out of that miserable state, but I did a bit of research and he has in fact been canonized. He's a standout in Hawaii's history as his brand of altruism is unknown in island culture.
In r/preppers in Reddit there's an account of a person who, in Hawaii, was hit on their motorcycle resulting in a rather severe broken leg. They had to tie their own tourniquet and even call 911 for themselves while locals stood around and made comments like "Look at the haole bleeding out".
My point being: The world's becoming blindly tribal.
alex-
ReplyDeleteWd be nice to have a link to that Reddit story.
mb
https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/hxnk6u/what_do_you_keep_in_your_car_prep_that_most/
ReplyDeleteNOT easy to find again. You'll have to dig down a few layers, click on the blue bar saying "see all comments" or whatever the fuck, then do a Control-F with the search string "hawaii"
I wasn't sure how you were about linking to Reddit discussions.
Mark-
ReplyDeleteI appreciate yr interest in poetry, but we do have a half-pg-max rule on this blog, so it's something you need to post very sparingly, in cases where the poem exceeds this length. Thank you.
mb
AOC is a complete fraud:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5uH0Dn7PfU
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1244752992823377922
Not surprising, you can't make it in US politics otherwise. And she's what passes for "radical left" in the US...
By the way, it looks like America has had Karens since the beginning. Here's one form the 17th century:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/03/hannah-duston-statue-new-hampshire-native-americans
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gruesome-story-hannah-duston-american-colonist-whose-slaying-indians-made-her-folk-hero-180968721/
William J. Astore with an essay on America's endless wars.
ReplyDeletehttps://asiatimes.com/2020/07/americas-war-on-its-own-democracy/
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteAre there many nihilists wandering about, Sog? Is it necessary for us to have counter-arguments at the ready in case we encounter them?
Coincidentally, I'm reading Dostoevsy's The Possessed these days. It presents nihilists in a rather unfavourable light.
alex, agree about the tribal thing. This is human nature, and I don't mean that as a complement. The antidote to this throughout history has been education, cultural sophistication, and trustworthy media institutions. But as Gore Vidal pointed out for decades (since we have been talking about him lately), in the US these things have all become terribly corrupt. Plus I think Europeans would argue the US never had much cultural sophistication to begin with, minus a few of our more talented writers and thinkers like Vidal.
ReplyDeletearthur, much of trumps appeal to his supporters is on an emotional level, rather then coming from facts or reason. Same could be said for hysterical progs, I guess. Not to the same degree of severity imo, tho I know some people here would disagree.
From a platonic point of view Trump is the anti-philosopher king, everything he does is just emotional reflex. How can you engage in dialogue with these people? As dr bica says, it may not be possible. Plato wanted to ban poets from his republic because they gave power to emotions over reason. I wouldn't want to live in Plato/Socrates's fascistic Republic, but when you look around at what America has become, it would be foolish to dismiss their critiques.
al-Qa'bong: I've taken note of Dostoevsy's "The Possessed". I mention nihilism because, aside from seeing some of it in some of my acquaintances, as well as potentially someone close, I, myself began to toss it around in my head as I read through the history that MB provided in Twilight, coinciding with my own brief eruption of resentment towards death itself due to some recent events. Nihilism doesn't fit with my own values though, but I feel the need to address it in a more exact way for myself. I also realize that I'm eventually going to have to wade my way into ethics and metaphysics more broadly; this is something that's been on the way for a few years. We'll see how far I get.
ReplyDeleteMB: BWV 999 on guitar sounds beautiful. Your response has been noted, though I find it difficult to re-state it back in my own words at the moment, as I doubt my ability to be precise in expressing the sentiment right now.
Mendelssohn Piano Trio 2, 1845 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1h-GMX1Isw . He was influenced by Bach and helped reintroduce the latter's works back into the public.
Tom - From the article you cite: "US inevitably becomes its own opponent, conducting a perpetual war on itself." America's destruction of the world via the military might be similar to the mass murderer who wants to kill as many people as he can before commiting suicide. As the US continues its descend into nothingness, it will direct more violence both within and without its borders. Destruction of self and others in a grand act of suicide.
ReplyDeleteGood doc on conspiracy pusher and all around asshole Alan Jones on Frontline. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/united-states-of-conspiracy/
As I watched it I thought: Jesus, this guy and Trump could have been hatched from the same rotten egg. Trump echoes Jones and uses many of the same rhetorical techniques.
Wafer WuduFugel- Personal experience: We cannot have any real meaningful dialogue with USians; hence, we minimize interactions with them. IF we have to talk with 'them,' it's like speaking to an 8 yo; we smile, nod, and move on.
ReplyDeleteWe have former acquaintances from several "Ivy" league universities and the professors are dumber than stale dog shit (Berman).
For example, their peer-reviewed manuscripts are (still) replete with calls for (delusional) actions, we shoulds, we cans, we oughtos, we need tos, we can do betters...it's a total disconnect from reality-psychosis. As if improving US capitalism is the answer?! E.g., The crashed 'plane' is in a million pieces and they still think they can turn it around and save the day. In our experience, many deluded folks tend to be starry- eyed USian immigrants who 'have' to believe the endless US empire bullshit/propaganda.... They do not nor cannot intellectually, ontologically, or spiritually understand that the 'plane' is unrecoverable.
Tom and Requiem: US non-stop wars...how did the US gov't transfer the wealth out of the country and into the hands of the 1%? and where can the 1% invest all that money? Reminder 21 Trillon is missing from the military accounting system.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/11/02/pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion-thats-not-typo/
NYT headlines:
Your Government Ordered Depression Has Arrived
Project Fear Worked: Americans believe TENS OF MILLIONS have died from Covid-19
RE: Project Fear Worked: The public in the UK think 4.6 MILLION people have died of Covid there, rather than the actual 46,000. In the US, people believe 29.5m have died from it, rather than 155,000. The perception of the risk and danger is far greater than reality.
https://www.kekstcnc.com/insights/covid-19-opinion-tracker-edition-1
Wanderer-
ReplyDeleteThat's odd; I thought that Americans believed that 800 billion people in the US died from the virus. In any case, 2u, Req, and Dr. Poop, I say: Deeper and deeper, heads go into rumps! There is no upper limit; there is no final exponent.
mb
Today’s Monday rambling’s from James Kunstler...Does anyone know when James suddenly became a Right Wing Lunatic? Did he get hit in the head or something?
ReplyDeletehttps://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/a-glimpse-towards-november/
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteWriting from Vancouver. Regular reader but have only left one comment. However, today is August 3rd. This means that it is your birthday. Feliz Cumpleanos! Wishing you many more and good health. Thank you for your wisdom and providing this forum for Wafers everywhere.
Michael-
ReplyDeleteHow kind of you to remember! Many thanks. Yes, today I hit 76, which means I have only 25 yrs left. I shd probably take up bowling, or something equally exciting. Meanwhile, the blog soldiers on. I am happy we have this oasis to turn to, in the midst of mass buffoonery and national dementia.
abrazos, chico
jj-
I didn't read Jim's post as rt-wing lunacy, myself. Much of what he says is true; and I suspect he wd trash the GOP as much as the Dems, if he cared to bother. Clearly, both parties stink of corruption and manipulation.
mb
Your birthday the after mine, Dr Berman - how weird
ReplyDeleteBirthday greetings from Cascadia! Coincidentally, yesterday your book "The Heart of the Matter" arrived and I spent an evening enjoying "Murder He Wrote" and "Moonies", a nice break from the two books by Wolfgang Streeck I finished last week (will discuss more about those in the next post). Five stars, amigo!
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteCould you blame the locals in Hawaii if they wanted to give these two a beating and leave them in a ditch?
https://kutv.com/news/local/utah-couple-arrested-after-violating-hawaiis-14-day-quarantine-order
Are they the face of America or what?
“A Rainy Day in New York, Woody Allen’s 48th film as writer-director, is – despite what you may have heard – at once his funniest and most reflective movie in years.” https://theartsdesk.com/film/dvdblu-ray-rainy-day-new-york
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Professor!
Joining the "read this" chorus https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/
ReplyDeleteEd Yong is such a talented science journalist.
How the Pandemic Defeated America
OK, who has the stomach to watch the Idiot King have a one-on-one interview with someone who is actually doing a bit of real journalism? The Uber-American Salesman, the archetypal US 'Power of Positive Thinking,' 'if I say it enough times it will be true' personality in the open. Dr. B himself could not have imagined and written a character so perfect for drawing on all the flaws of America, condensing them in one person, and putting them in the driver's seat as we hurtle towards the canyon.
ReplyDeleteWatch the full "Axios on HBO" interview with President Trump:
https://www.axios.com/full-axios-hbo-interview-donald-trump-cd5a67e1-6ba1-46c8-bb3d-8717ab9f3cc5.html
On my more detached and objective days, even living inside this collapsing behemoth, the US has become a giant Live Action Role Playing game of Roadrunner cartoons, with reality as the Roadrunner itself and the delusional foolish American as Coyote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkBu-mnXOAk
Under the headline “Another vital step toward racial reconciliation,” this item from insiderhighered.com:
ReplyDeleteThe State University of New York at Buffalo is removing Millard Fillmore’s name from a campus building; Fillmore, who assumed the presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor in 1850, served until 1853. He was a founder of the University and its first chancellor.
And, by virtue of his insistence on the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, an act passed by Congress, a man deserving of general contempt and disapprobation. Ye verily unto the last generation shall his name be cursed.
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/08/04/buffalo-removes-name-millard-fillmore-building
Henri-
ReplyDeleteA terrific article by Ed Yong, but as in the case of virtually 100% of these critiques, it omits a vital factor: the American people. Yong cites radical individualism as a cause of our current health crisis, but omits the fact that the American people embrace the individualist ideology wholeheartedly. They regularly vote Reagan as their favorite president, for example. This ideology makes serious cooperation--desperately needed in the case of a pandemic--impossible, and so we have a Reaganesque 'deregulation' of everything such that our health system is in a shambles and cannot control the spread of the virus. Add to that the fact that millions of Americans refuse to practice social distancing or wear a mask, because it supposedly violates their individual freedom. The result is that they are being punished with sickness, death, and financial ruin--which they brought on themselves. But they are too stupid to see this, to connect the dots, and hence the word 'punished' isn't quite rt (altho it's real). They don't blame themselves, or the American Way of Life. Yong may be blind to this, as are most critics; in addn, it is politically incorrect to point it out.
mb
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteBy "it," Dr. Belman, I facetiously meant the Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy® that controls all aspects of our lives. I suppose that was a weak attempt at humour and...hang on, what do you mean by "depends?"
On another note, not only are we engaged in a struggle against an unseen viral foe, we also have do deal with Covid-19's ally, the crackpot conspiracy theorists. All dem gubmints is tryin' to take away our freedoms.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid-19-conspiracy-theories-1.5672766
"People are dying because of these conspiracy theories and we've got to stop them," Meek said. "We've got to somehow figure out how to challenge them."
I can sympathise with some of the paranoia, though. I feel constrained by those arbitrary lines on the roads, for instance. If I want to drive on the left side I should be allowed to do so without government interference. My car, my choice.
I have to give credit to both Trump & Biden for their authentic indifference. They're not even trying to care, yet the vast majority of Americans are too stupid to notice.
ReplyDeleteThe real campaign slogans of 2020:
Trump: "It is what it is"
Biden: "Nothing would fundamentally change"
"Trump on coronavirus death toll: 'It is what it is'"
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/510393-trump-on-coronavirus-death-toll-it-is-what-it-is
"Joe Biden to rich donors: "Nothing would fundamentally change" if he's elected"
https://www.salon.com/2019/06/19/joe-biden-to-rich-donors-nothing-would-fundamentally-change-if-hes-elected/
^^If you even try to shed light on this, you'll undoubtedly hear "Democratic hoax!" or "Orange man bad."
Belated birthday wishes, MB. Wish many happy returns of the day so that the GSWH keeps guiding us through this collapse.
ReplyDeleteDr, Shit... I loved your comment: "starry- eyed USian immigrants who 'have' to believe the endless US empire bullshit/propaganda'. Lemme share some personal experience. 2003, I met a bunch of Indian-origin university students/young professionals. During a casual conversation, I declared that I and my family would be moving back to India the next year. There was absolute disbelief. After a pause, came the question, so where are you moving back to? I told of this small town in the north of India. They were totally flabbergasted. Like, 'how can any sane person move to that god-forsaken place leaving a cozy life in the US?' I did not have an answer then. Now I do.
2010: Met another bunch of fellows on a weekend trip during one of my short visits. I can't express my amusement, but every single one of them, when they heard that at some point of time I used to live in the US, how their attitude towards me changed! It was as if I was elevated to a different level of respectability. Before that I was some random person making a once-in-a-lifetime kinda visit to the sacred land. Was more like a lucky-to-be-there pilgrim rather than their equals in God's country.
On a different note, read this interesting piece. How MI6 actively helped Shah to gain power in Iran in 1953. So much for exporting democracy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/02/mi6-the-coup-in-iran-that-changed-the-middle-east-and-the-cover-up
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteDid you notice the 2nd last paragraph in Mr. Yong's article (the mandatory offering of hope) which includes this sentence-
"Recovery is possible, but it demands radical introspection."
What are the chances of that happening?
Hola OGO and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI have a very different perspective on the Ed Yong article. It's neoliberalism (embraced by both the R's and D's in the USA and other countries) that has reduced health care systems around the globe.
RE: if Americans would wear masks etc.
There is no scientific proof...in fact just the opposite as there are many clinical trials that show how ineffective masks are. Dr. Fauci recently refused to authorize a clinical trial to prove they are effective.
https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/36451-does-fauci-oppose-mask-studies-because-he-knows-what-they-ll-find
Example: the Netherlands has gone against the narrative based on the science.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/12292821/face-masks-not-necessary-say-holland-scientists/
I'm more concerned about any government mandating how I take care of my health but it's fascinating how in the USA this has become a political issue. Anyone who questions the government's non-science based mandates is a threat to safety?
Birn-
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked, buffoons weren't esp. adept at radical introspection.
Indian-
Check out the section on Iran in DAA, as well as the bk by Stephen Kinzer.
al-
So move to England. Problem solved.
mb
https://youtu.be/zaaTZkqsaxY
ReplyDeleteMan the Axios interview is... bad! Even a Lazarus-like Biden's gonna walk right thru him
The Pomos on twitter are trying to disprove James Lindsay's mocking statement that "these people think 2+2=5". By how? By proving 2+2=5 of course! Many of these tweets are college professors who are arguing that 2+2=4 is racist and that 2+2=5 is valid...
ReplyDeletehttps://mobile.twitter.com/wokal_distance/status/1290479330477240320?fbclid=IwAR2tEmejE-eUmQmpHb7eAToMm5AcSNs2rF4PQzNbdjS0bKXIo7JSYkVQO8Q
Maybe they can get book deals as they set out to cast math, the culmination of different cultures combined knowledge, as a work of White Supremacy. I mean whats more multi-ethnic than math? I guess I am a racist now...
Oddly enough this feels like the secular version of the Christians ascent in Rome and the destruction of anything and everything that was Roman. If these professors begin collecting sea shells I am running for the hills.
al-Qa'bong – The last time I was in my uncle’s truck, he flaunted driving over the line into oncoming traffic! Back in the early 80s when I was around the age of 4, he punched me in the face after I suggested he put on his seatbelt. “Freedom!” Wonder if and how this might be related to the rest of the stuff he comes up with such as Obama being a communist Muslim, the grave threat of American fifth-columnists, the Earth not getting any warmer, stripping women and non-property owners of the right to vote, going into homes and forcing parents to watch as he beats their innocent children, exterminating all Muslims, and his decades-long obsession with the evils of the metric system.
ReplyDelete• Conspiracy Mentality Linked to Non-Compliance With Official — but Not Unofficial — Coronavirus Prevention Measures
• Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?
• Bad Thinkers: The Intellectual Character of Conspiracy Theorists
• Machiavellian and Psychopathic Personality Traits Linked to Belief in Conspiracy Theories
“Study authors Evita March and Jordan Springer set out to explore trait psychopathy as a possible predictor for belief in conspiracy theories. They say, ‘characteristics of trait psychopathy such as the tendency to be exploitative, manipulative, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, and social dominance orientation, have all previously been associated with belief in conspiracy theories.’ … The authors suggest that it is unsurprising that primary psychopathy emerged as a predictor, given that characteristics linked to the trait (such as manipulation and exploitation) have also been linked to belief in conspiracy theories.”
Happy belated birthday MB and NeilW.
ReplyDeleteMy gift is a link to this Deepak Chopra random quote generator http://www.wisdomofchopra.com/
I just received the following wisdom: "The human nervous system illuminates spiritual energy." I think I'm going to have to sit down.
I also finished The Twilight of American Culture. The book, the final chapter especially, may be a source of continuous reference for the coming years. Everything you said made sense and I seem to have discovered you at the right time in my life.
Thank you for having written it.
Wander: I appreciate skepticism and yes, Fauci's ties to the Gates tech BS deserves scrutiny, but links to media funded by the John Birch Society do nothing for me. Rare is the media outlet I trust these days. My sis works in the local health department and the depth and breadth of stuff they don't tell the public would stun a team of oxen in their tracks (West Wing reference there). They have to assume utter stupidity, lack of regard for actual experts in the field and people who don't pay attention at all.
ReplyDeleteMasks? A psychological imprint. Stop touching your face. Stop blubbering at people in close confines. Effectiveness may be small, but every little thing counts.
Blah, blah, blah. I'm preaching to the WAFer choir here. A book recommendation, Philip Pullman's interpretation of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Pastrami-
ReplyDeleteLink to Pullman? As for masks, I suggest a poultice of pastrami and chopped liver. Highly recommended by all Jewish epidemiologists.
Sog-
Yr welcome. Thanks 2u and other Wafers for birthday wishes, much appreciated.
mb
Happy birthday Dr. Berman. In more declinist news: Younger Americans are reporting more stress than older Americans during the pandemic. Between COVID-19 and the Great Recession Millennials have really taken a beating.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/millennials-report-more-stress-than-older-americans-during-pandemic
A new report on the death toll from excessive drinking in America. "From 2011 to 2015, an average of 93,296 deaths annually could be tied to excessive alcohol use, or 255 deaths per day. “
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/heavy-drinking-thousands-americans-deaths-alcohol
Dr. B you said "Rx for not getting covid 19: forget abt masks or social distancing. Instead, if yr walking down the st. and u.c. an attractive demon coming toward you, cross the st."
ReplyDeleteHoly Moly! The doc is describing the monsters from Monster Girl encyclopedia.
https://monstergirlencyclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Monster_Girl_Encyclopedia
It's getting nastier out there, more zombies and crazies every day. I need to go to the bank tomorrow to see if my money's all disappeared since my debit card is lost/stolen.
ReplyDeleteI was just looking up videos about/by James Lovelock, co-inventor of the Gaia theory (which simply says the earth has a self-regulating ecology, no woo-woo in the pure version) and interestingly, there are tons but almost none in English. Spanish, German, etc you name it, but very few in the language that gave us the idea of endless growth on a finite planet.
Servo - Interestingly I'm looking at learning how to brew and distill alcohol, as I'm paying $8 a pint for rubbing alcohol when I can find it.
cube-
ReplyDeleteThe temptations are strong, clearly. The problem is that I've been having a lot of sex with demons recently, and given the warning of Dr. Stella Immanuel, need to cut back.
"Stella...Stella!"
mb
Check it out:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/what-princeton-professors-really-think-about-defining-racism/614911/
I assume Pastrami meant this:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/philip-pullmans-twice-told-tales
A Trump appointee and Jacob Wohl have sucked the U.S. foreign aid agency into the most Trumpian saga ever.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/the-most-absurd-trumpian-drama-ever-is-taking-place-at-of-all-places-usaid
Wanderer-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it. You can post only once every 24 hrs. Thank you.
mb
Happy Belated Birthday, Dr Berman! Btw, another anniversary tomorrow:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/04/hiroshima-atomic-bomb-us-japan-history
“It is not an accident the bombs were dropped on 6 August and 9 August, just around the time we had expected the Russians to enter the war,” he said.
So the bomb was dropped to prevent the Russians gaining a foothold in Japan?
Malleus-
ReplyDeleteNot in Japan, in Europe; and more generally, Truman wanted to send a signal to the USSR as to who was going to be in charge of the world in the postwar period. However, that was only one factor. Check out the section on WWII in "Neurotic Beauty" for a more complete picture. To which you can add ch. 3 of WAF.
mb
ps: there is also this:
ReplyDeletehttps://sports.yahoo.com/op-ed-u-leaders-knew-100525153.html
and check out the story in "The Heart of the Matter" titled "Moonies."
MB + Malleus - Had to intimidate Ivan so we could create the Cold War and the military industrial complex. My god, we are horrific.
ReplyDeleteIn lighter news:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200721-nakhchivan-the-worlds-most-sustainable-nation
Insular and isolated, the autonomous republic of Nakhchivan is emerging as one of the world’s most sustainable places.
^A fine example of a Dual Process to this horrible nation.
Wanderer - How did American rich get to be the 1%? Legally. First, you buy as many lawmakers as you can. Then, you get the agencies who are supposed to regulate you to work for your interests, not the nation's. Soon you have tax codes, trade policies, and corporate welfare that favor the wealthy and funnel every more money up the pyramid. Finally, you rely on the ignorance and sombulance of the American people to distract them from the truth with entertainment, lies and conspiracies.
ReplyDeleteOn M16 and the Shah. The real movers and shakers were the CIA, through their man on the ground, Kermit Roosevelt, one of Teddy's grandsons, who organized the coup that toppled the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh and replaced him with the Shah.
NPR doc - https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/690363402/how-the-cia-overthrew-irans-democracy-in-four-day; lots of Google references
On Russian reasons for bombing Japan see - https://consortiumnews.com/2020/08/05/atomic-bombings-at-75-the-decision-to-drop-the-bomb-on-japan-and-the-genesis-of-the-cold-war/
It's 2020. The people of India are celebrating the building of a temple on the site where a mosque used to stand, which was razed by crazed fanatics who now rule the country and are intent on destroying the Constitution. The dream of a secular state dreamt by Ambedkar and Gandhi lies in tatters. The economy lies in ruins even as hunger and disease spread. Dark Ages indeed.
ReplyDeleteReq-
ReplyDeleteSome refs: On Iran, see section on CIA involvement in DAA, as well as Stephen Kinzer's bk on the subject. On Hiroshima: see section on the bomb in "Neurotic Beauty," along w/short story in "The Heart of the Matter" called "Moonies". (Sorry to be repeating myself)
Meredith-
It's not so pat, actually. Psychologically, America needs a demon in order to survive, and communism made for an easy target. We cd get all riled up in a self-righteous psychosis, wh/is what we did. W/o a demon, we just float--as we did during the Clinton yrs. Then along comes 9/11, and voila!--a new demon, just in time. See relevant essays in QOV and parts of DAA. As for Nakhchivan, maybe we shd hold the 7th Annual Wafer Summit Mtg there, instead of NY.
mb
@Wanderer,
ReplyDeleteUsing American experience and data to debate the efficiency of face masks in stopping the spread of the coronavirus is a lot like get data on building commercial jetliners from Moldova. We are the worlds biggest failures at controlling the virus plus Americans are chowder heads so in true Wafer fashion we might be better off looking at information from countries that have had success in controlling the virus.
https://southeastasiaglobe.com/experiencing-vietnams-covid-liberation/
Hola Pastrami..we agree and to prove your point, do a search and you can’t find any mention of Fauci says no to mask study in Reuters, NYT, WaPo, CNN, FoxNews etc So did Fauci say this? He sure did and I qued the video to go straight to the request a scientific study on masks question at Georgetown University mid July.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/-fCgHxJ_Gko?t=1623
So why doesn’t Fauci want to hold a real scientific study? And why do millions of Americans say “the science supports masks” when it doesn’t and Fauci clearly states he has no study and he doesn’t want one.
If Dr. B waves the ½ page limit, I can post over 40 links to real scientific studies that show even N95’s are ineffective against viruses. This week the real science is leaking out, so Fauci is suggesting you have to wear goggles because the masks are ineffective! Lol And don't forget the countries of Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden have all publicly declared there is no science to support masks for submicron, aerosol transmitted viruses.
Pandemic Tantrums? Enter the Robot Playmate for Kids
ReplyDeleteThe makers of two new social support robots are betting automatons can help children during a time of high stress
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pandemic-tantrums-enter-the-robot-playmate-for-kids-11596542401
Creepy and reminiscent of Philip K Dick
Conor-
ReplyDeleteI'm trying not to vomit.
Wanderer-
Interesting! Some time ago someone (Megan?) posted links to articles that demonstrated that masks *were* effective, and I remember I asked if there were any studies that came to the opposite conclusion. So if there's lots of evidence on both sides...??? Just by the way, my own doctor told me that masks were basically placebos.
Systems-
Can you think of any recent articles that discuss/analyze the current situation in India?
mb
https://m.thewire.in/article/rights/august-5-kashmir-ayodhya-bhoomi-pujan-ram-mandir-china
DeleteA recent article about the last one year and the wreckage it has left behind.
There can be no doubt about the horrific nature of the atomic bomb.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to soldiers fighting on the ground like Paul Fussell ( the source of the “thin layer of fraud” quote, known to all WAFERS), the bomb was a saviour, preventing many more months of fighting and even more deaths than from the bomb itself.
According to Fussell, the Japanese would have fought and died to the civilian in their loyalty to the Emperor. The bomb provided the shock that led to a quick surrender.
Read: “Thank God for the Atom Bomb” The New Republic - August 1981 by Paul Fussell
https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/iakh/HIS1300MET/v12/undervisningsmateriale/Fussel%20-%20thank%20god%20for%20the%20atom%20bomb.pdf
[And BTW, for one the most gripping accounts of battle, read E. B. Sledge, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, mentioned in Fussell’s article. As Fussell notes elsewhere, foot soldiers rarely have the literary skills to relate their war experiences, but Sledge is an exception, as is Fussell himself].
Quercus
Quercus-
ReplyDeleteProblem is that Fussell was wrong, subjective and very much off-base. Check out the stats and analysis in the bomb chapter of "Neurotic Beauty."
mb
Systems-
ReplyDeleteA couple of blog rules you shd know. 1st, post only once every 24 hrs. 2nd, send messages to most recent post; no one reads the older stuff. Thank you.
mb
I believe Fussell was a pilot, as opposed to a ground pounder.
ReplyDelete