The Collapse

[pan]

OK, I'm an idiot - how do you upload video?

Watch this

[BO]

Couldn't have said it any better than that. Except to add that their truth is often a lie.

Paradoxically, I think the religious tend to be the least spiritual among us. Primarily because they have quit questioning and would rather someone else tell them what to think. As a result, there will always be those who will take advantage and prod the sheep into committing destructive acts. That's when religion becomes a smokescreen for evil. Doesn't matter if you're a member of the Taliban or Goldman Sachs, the rationalizations are all the same.

BTW, I've had my own paranormal experiences which I can't explain. So, I don't disavow that there isn't some sort of 'mechanisim' at work beyond this reality. But I wouldn't know where to start in trying to explain it.

[waldopaper]

I got no problem(s) with christians or mormons or pagans or jews or anybody else's "religion" whatsoever... as long as they keep it out of my face and don't go re-writing history by pulling stuff out of their ass like, "...the founding daddies intended the US to be a christian nation."  then i have a problem.  like wanting to tell them that's flat-out wrong or THEY are flat-fuck stupid. 

sometimes, you get that "...i thought you liberals were spozed to be tolerant..." to which i have said, "where is 'liberal' tattooed on my forehead and where does it say i gotta let things slide that are flat-fuck stoopid?"  first of all, it's hard to guess the intentions of people who have been dead for two centuries and second, there is little contextual evidence to support that at all.in fact, the opposite is true... and it's ok if somebody wants to pull something out of their butt... but tell it like any good story... and not that it's flat-ass "factual."  

The Indians... the kowabunga not the hindu... had a good trick there in their oral tradition(s):  "...that's what they say," usually without elaborating on who "they" were... it did not matter.  a good story is a good story... which is one of the main points in The Book of Mormon.  Stone and Parker said the "church response" was their "Q.E.D."  (Don't feel bad.  I had to look it up too).  "Religion" is a good story.  Shouldn't that be enough?  Apparently it's not enough to SAY you "believe" in the Marvel-Comic super-hero version with the magic tricks... you have to get snarky with anybody who says that shit is flat-ass unimportant to the purpose of the story. 

"Hasa Diga Eebowai" has great potential as a meme.  It's a cool response to the usual suspects who snark and bitch about "politically correct."  Oh yeah?  How about "fuck you god?"  How about that?  Well... that's "blasphemy."  Oh- you mean it's not "politically correct?"  Heh.  What fun.  Hasta la vista, evil eye.  Take a dump on more dopey bullshit holding us back for centuries. 

For example (of culture/ meme/ selection), in Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage, there’s a fantastic dialogue going on between sea-dog captain and stowaway freedman Negro aboard a walloping window blind of a sinking slave ship, involving Cartesian dualism and bloody whatnot.  Do I exaggerate?  Not at all.  Part of the dialogue goes like this: 

“Fact is, down deep no man’s democratic.  We’re closet anarchists, I’d wager.  Ouk agathon polykoiranin eis koiranos estos.  We believe what we believe.  And the final test of truth is war on foreign soil.”( 97) 

Wait a minute.  “Ouk agathon polykoiranin eis koiranos estos?”  Or, as some would say, “Ouk agathon polukoiraniae, heis koiranos esto.”  What’s going on here? Something we do not know.  Google it and find out it’s a line from the Iliad (ii, 204) allegedly meaning, “the rule of many is no good; let there be one ruler.”  Why is the line there and what is Johnson trying to do?  Is it a spiderweb non-matter, consciously-created ambiguity? 

In the context of this dialogue, Captain Falcon is already tossing names about like “Ancillon, de Maistre, or Portalis,” obviously Falcon is familiar with some hoity-toity philosophers, and perhaps the “informed reader” would even know who they are.  But the chances of even an “informed reader” in this day and age speaking or recognizing original Greek text is slim to none.  The line is there to underscore the character’s philosophical knowledge and make it believable. 

Even if the reader does not notice Falcon’s segue from Rousseau’s Social Contract to Cartesian Dualism, no matter.  The Captain’s words stand on their own:  “And in each battle ‘tis the winning belief what’s true and the conqueror whose vision is veritable,” says Captain Falcon. 

“No—nossir!” objects freedman Negro stowaway Calhoun (who also seems to be familiar with Teresa of Avila and Aristippus) in a voice louder than he intended.  “By my heart, sir, if something is true, it can’t be suppressed, can it, regardless of whether all the armies of the world stand ready to silence it?” 

“You’re a smart boy,” says Falcon, “What d’you think?  Is truth floatin’ round out there in space separate from persons?  Now, be frank.” 

“No, but—“ 

Falcon has sprung his dualist trap on Calhoun.  Even with opposing ideas, even if (as Falcon baits the trap) “both are true,” the rule of many is no good; let there be one ruler.  It’s a zero-sum game, posits Falcon, even among ideas, for ideas are nothing without heads to hold them.  The severed head holds none.  Point, game, set.  “Close reading” to discern a certain “function” within the text, merely an observation of the author’s style by one reader

In fact, some truth IS “floatin’ round out there in space separate from persons.”  The planet will continue to be an oblate spheroid, not caring a fig how many times flat-earth fundamentalists burn Copernicus at the stake or how many heads they “let’s roll.”  Other realities such as justice, freedom, racism or barbarity will ebb and flow in the scheme of things depending on the number and power of the heads that hold them.  They are real nonetheless, real as the qualia of the planet’s roundness.  And these “abstractions” are just as physical as synapses and neurons. 

 

[waldopaper]

Quoting myself.  Heh.  See?  I can be a jerk-off too!  If there's anything the krakkkers like more than demonstrating how "patriotic" they are, it's how pious they are.  It has nothing to do with piety nor  patriotism, because they have a rodent-level comprehension of god and country, the two things (other than "family") that they claim are the most important things in their lives. 

the concept of "family" is pretty diverse, but i would guess the initial meme of "god" or "country" begins as universally as "family," ie. "mom and dad."  however, whether it is god, country or family, what it boils down to for most krakkkers- methinks- is "school spirit," something they have been taught.  like being a "colts fan" or a "bears fan."  not much thought of the nature of family or football, but high recognition of the "team logo."  that is what is taught because it produces the best results on standardized tests. 

what you measure is what you get. 

 

[littleoldme]

"If there's anything the krakkkers like more than demonstrating how "patriotic" they are,

it's how pious they are."

There's four rules to bein' a true krakker.......

1) Ya gotta believe firmly that Jesus is on yer side.

2) Woman have their place and had better stay in it.

3) Who's ahead in Nascar points.

4) ya gotta own at least 1 gun, and a truck, dun matter ifn it runs er not, just gotta have one.

[hannah j]

if it runs, and is not just sitting in the yard, it doesn't count, sorry.  if it has a family of possums living in the upholstery, and was left in the yard by some old hippies from back in the day, you might get a pass!

[littleoldme]

lol

[waldopaper]

"...try living here a couple days..."

[littleoldme]

AH....no thanks.

[littleoldme]

I'm really worried about the stupids in the gov not getting their shit together.

If the checks don't go out, my bills don't get paid, and we join the homeless.

Simple as that.

[BO]

No worries. The wrangling about raising taxes is just political theater to create the impression that Obama is doing something for the middle class. The checks will go out. Albeit, Bernanke looks like he's about to devalue the dollar again. So your check might not be worth much by the time you receive it. Oh well. We're all in the same sinking boat. They'd have to put three million of us in prison, and who'd be left to buy shit?

[pan]

Whether the war is economic, rhetorical or actual, Brinksmanship is so much easier when you and yours aren't going to feel any impact once the missiles start flying.

[littleoldme]

Hope you're right Bo. What the hell is wrong with people.

Their attitudes just keep getting worse and worse.