tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post43229449153335228..comments2024-03-09T03:15:55.350-05:00Comments on jazzoLOG: Obama In Ohiojazzologhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16647170784964378640noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-56285228577339008732008-11-21T18:53:00.000-05:002008-11-21T18:53:00.000-05:00I see Libertarians as uniquely fierce individualis...I see Libertarians as uniquely fierce individualists who believe government prevents them from living a fully free and independent life. It is an ideal based far more upon a homespun form of native American self-imagery and fancy than upon any reality.<BR/><BR/>For don’t these Libertarians ever look about and see how many social ties they actually have with the rest of the community? If they ever stop in any kind of market (super, farmer’s or neighborhood) and buy a dozen eggs someone - a complete stranger - had to feed the chickens which laid them, then collect them, then drive the eggs to market and, finally, allow the merchant to sell them.<BR/><BR/>Because of this fierce unobtainable dream of individuality, which seems to constantly drive them on, Libertarians do not see that by necessity we are all to one degree or another interdependent. They seem to often see themselves as standing alone on the mountain top breathing free, masters of all they survey. Living without restraint. Kind of like John Wayne on steroids.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps such a life ideal could be fulfilled if each of these “free men” lived in a cave thousands of miles from civilization. If each made all his own tools and provided completely for himself in every regard. Though it’s hard to imagine some of these individualists giving up their fire arms catalogs, intriguing gadgets, and large patriotic camp meetings. For many Libertarians still believe in an abstract entity called the United States and remain proud flag wavers. This symbolizes freedom to them too. Though the motto of the United States is “e pluribus unum.”<BR/><BR/>So from a Libertarian point of view any form of “big” government is seen as oppressive - even if it should provide national healthcare for one and all. Even if it IMPROVES life for millions of citizens. Even if, by providing mass public education, roads, bridges, libraries, healthcare, mass public transit, and other basic public necessities it makes the world a better place to live in, allowing many people to grow and to improve their lives. As occurred after World War II with the GI Bill and other progressive measures which built up the American middleclass.<BR/><BR/>What has occurred over time here in the United States is that the historic money interests, unlike every other democracy in the world, have won the national “propaganda” war. To the extent that even common sense government regulations and programs are ridiculed as intrusive “nanny state” interferences in personal freedoms and the rights of property. For as Thomas Frank pointed out, as a society there is an ongoing constant tug between practical government solutions and the ideological slogans of the far right with their deep roots in the Gilded Age. An ideology which finally developed a life of its own which has become detached from its original motivations. Ie, to protect the power of bosses, oligarchs and the moneyed interests from oversight and regulation.<BR/><BR/>For the decades long struggles against organized labor - plus McCarthyism, the Cold War, and finally American prosperity itself and the fall of the Soviet Union - went even beyond discrediting Marxism but eventually government itself with its numerous regulations, taxes, and laws intended to protect labor, the environment, women and other so-called “special interests.” (That phrase in itself, used to describe women, blacks, etc., is quite telling. And there are of course many more like it.)<BR/><BR/>Today Obama appears to be on the tipping edge of this debate. The far right has already begun a campaign against him as a “Socialist.” If he wants to provide health coverage to all the citizens of the United States a large government program will be required. For, of course, the private sector - not seeing any self-benefit or profit in it - will pass on that opportunity. Who else, then, but big government can do it?<BR/><BR/>Obama often claims he wants to bring us all “together.” But can he without betraying his most basic obligations to the American people? Can he achieve progress without being a progressive? Or will he somehow outmaneuver the old rhetoric, those basic core principles which have been so successfully defined by the right? And outwit those empty slogans and words by being genuinely practical? <BR/><BR/>What’s more, with the current Palin/Paleocon split the Republican Party is currently in disarray. Illogic brought the most fiercely illogical into the party, whom Palin represents. While the Paleocons represent the old moneyed interests, the traditional “true” Republicans who put money and power first. Between greed and God who will win?<BR/><BR/>These are going to be an interesting four year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-6256325193082449402008-11-18T04:02:00.000-05:002008-11-18T04:02:00.000-05:00Wonderful comments, thank you. Good tips from Tom ...Wonderful comments, thank you. Good tips from Tom (so he was Uncle Remus?) and much to learn, as usual, from Anonymous. I'd better clarify my remark about Libertarians and crazy. I was thinking of a particular Libertarian I know, who happens to be a psychiatrist. He loves to let off steam by unleashing the schitzy part of his own personality from time to time. He does not kid around about taxes and the magical truths of market maneuvers however.jazzologhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647170784964378640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-62594834895350761882008-11-16T15:51:00.000-05:002008-11-16T15:51:00.000-05:00"When I dream and invent without return, am I not ...<I>"When I dream and invent without return, am I not . . . nature?"<BR/>~~Valery</I><BR/><BR/>I don't know that, as some Libertarians <I>"talk crazy"</I>, they always <I>"know they are doing so"</I> when they do it, as jazzolog put it. But this would be a judgment's call and I would have to know, of course, who those Libertarians are that jazzolog is referring to: I've met many (which is not saying much, as there are Libertarians and Libertarians); some of them I have met online (but, here again, it's hard to say, as the denizens of some ultra-right wing Web sites like FreeRepublic.com and other "ditto-heads" roaming the world wide web often pause as Libertarians---some of them even believe they are); so, who knows, some might even happen to be the very same Libertarians Wannabe that jazzolog is speaking of. <BR/><BR/>To be sure, at times, the self-contradictory ex-cathedra pronouncements and dogmatic assertions of some die-hard Libertarians make for some odd ideological fruit salad, which is not always without a certain poetical quality (possibly one of its redeeming values, if you ask me, speaking as a yellow hat, of course), but, more often, it makes for a stale mix, as the freshness of the fruits has been long squeezed out of them and the dry fruits are recycled with nuts and spice for the next seasonal fruitcake.<BR/><BR/>"Craziness" is another matter entirely. Why, considering the physiological/psychological evolutionary cauldron humanity emerged from, it is maybe a miracle that mankind is not stark raving mad as a a species. <BR/><BR/>Or is it, now?<BR/><BR/>I think that battle is fought again and again, by each and every member of the species, during at least two phases in a lifetime. Once during adolescence. Another time during what has been referred to as mid-life crisis. (For the cinemaphiles amongst us, "American Beauty" is a most perfect movie on that topic---allegedly, Alan Ball who had originally written American Beauty for the stage, saw a paper bag floating in the wind near the World Trade Center plaza and was inspired by it to write the film.) Remarkably there are individuals who manage to go through life without experiencing any crisis of any kind---I am not sure that those individuals are the sanest members of the species. <BR/><BR/>Quinty's comment (above) about "human nature" and "ideological frameworks" is a good one. So is Tom Bombadil's take on just plain "Nature" (aka Life), and the place of Man in the midst of it all. <BR/><BR/>In "The Birth of Tragedy," Nietzsche exalted Life above Thought, a very Libertarian outlook on Life with a capital L, in a way. But then, throughout all of Nietzsche's books which came after that, for 10 years or so, that tendency is reversed. Socrates is reinstated and truth becomes the only important aim. <BR/><BR/>Then comes "The joyful Wisdom," and "Thus spoke Zarathoustra": <B>Energy is eternal delight!</B><BR/><BR/>And then comes the mental break down (1889, the same year that Van Gogh committed himself to the mental hospital of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in a former monastery in Saint Rémy de Provence, a little less than 20 miles from Arles). What actually happened remains unknown, but the often-repeated tale states that Nietzsche witnessed the whipping of a horse at the other end of the Piazza Carlo Alberto, ran to the horse, threw his arms up around the horse’s neck to protect it, and collapsed to the ground. Shortly after that comes a long period during which Nietzsche begins writing strange letters, signing them "Caesar" and "The King of Naples" and more significantly, "The crucified one."<BR/><BR/>His last letter to Cosima Wagner reads: "Ariadne, I love thee - Dionysus."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-86415001064980545962008-11-14T16:37:00.000-05:002008-11-14T16:37:00.000-05:00“We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousa...<I>“We meet ourselves time and time again in a thousand disguises on the path of life”<BR/>---C. G. Jung</I><BR/><BR/>Two fundamental takes on Human nature here by Jazzolog and Quinty. <BR/><BR/>Human <I>nature</I> or perhaps just the <I>nature</I> of Life on Earth. Two sides of the same coins---or, as I sometimes like to say, the same side of two different coins. <BR/><BR/>What is Mankind to do? Just like any species before it, in the chain of evolution, the Human species just plays the cards it was dealt. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v445/__show_article/_a000445-000033.htm" REL="nofollow">Is it right?</A> <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v408/__show_article/_a000408-000081.htm" REL="nofollow">Is it wrong?</A><BR/><BR/>A sophisticated cinephile like jazzolog has, visibly, some appreciation for Jean Giono’s old classic, “A King without Distraction” and the famous movie adaptation that Francois Leterrier made of it in the 60’s. <BR/><BR/>A Jacques Brel song, "Pourquoi faut -il que les Hommes s'ennuient?" "(Why Must Men Be Bored?), is heard during the credits:<BR/><BR/><I>Pourtant les hôtesses sont douces<BR/>Aux auberges bordées de neige <BR/>Pourtant patientent les épouses<BR/>Que les enfants ont pris au piège <BR/>Pourtant les auberges sont douces<BR/>Où le vin fait tourner manège <BR/>Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient <BR/><BR/>Pourtant les villes sont paisibles <BR/>Où tremblent cloches et clochers <BR/>Mais le diable dort-il sous la bible <BR/>Mais les rois savent-ils prier<BR/>Pourtant les villes sont paisibles<BR/>De blanc matin et blanc coucher <BR/>Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient<BR/><BR/>Pourtant il nous reste à rêver <BR/>Pourtant il nous reste à savoir <BR/>Et tous ces loups qu'il faut tuer<BR/>Tous ces printemps qu'il reste à boire <BR/>Désespérance ou désespoir<BR/>Il nous reste à être étonnés<BR/>Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient<BR/><BR/>Pourtant il nous reste à tricher<BR/>Être le pique et jouer le cœur <BR/>Être la peur et rejouer <BR/>Être le diable et jouer fleur <BR/>Pourtant il nous reste à patienter<BR/>Bon an mal an on ne vit qu'une heure <BR/>Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient.</I><BR/><BR/>If like our good buddy jazzolog you have a thing for the psychedelics experience of the 60’s (and Nausicaa would tell us, no doubt, that the term comes from the Greek words for "soul," [psyche], and "manifest," [delos]), Robert Silverberg’s masterpiece <I>”Son of Man”</I>, which writing was possibly influenced by the use of LSD, is the book for you. <BR/><BR/><I>“Science Fiction is as much a guide to where we are as it is a vision of where we are going.”<BR/>---Robert Silverberg</I><BR/><BR/>The book follows Clay's thoughts as he tries to come to terms with what humanity was, what it has become and his place in it all:<BR/><BR/>Del Rey (1980):<BR/><BR/><I>In the beginning...</I><BR/><BR/>there was no Brooklyn, no St. Louis, no Shakespeare, no moon, no hunger, no death...<BR/><BR/><I>In the beginning...</I><BR/><BR/>there were no real men, no real women, nothing but dispassionately passionate ambisexuals of the lowest and highest order...<BR/><BR/><I>In the beginning...</I><BR/><BR/>the heavens, the seas and the Earth belonged to more intelligent species than a man called Clay could ever have dreamed possible in his own time<BR/><BR/>but his own time as a man had passed, and now his time as the son of man had come!<BR/><BR/><B>Description</B>:<BR/><BR/>Clay is a man from the 20th Century, an educated person who considers himself open-minded. His mind is in for quite a trip when he is caught up in a time-flux and whisked untold billions of years into the future (not the beginning of time). The earth of this distant era retains no recognizable features from our time, and its population consists of wildly variant life forms. In the intervening eons, the human race has taken many forms, from squid-like aquatic creatures to tyrannosaur-like eating machines to grotesque goat-like creatures. Clay is befriended (if that's the word) by a group of humans called Skimmers, who can change form at will, sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes a pale gray cloud that can travel interstellar space. All of the strange human forms are called sons of men, races descended from <I>Homo sapiens</I>. With the Skimmers, and in spite of them, Clay goes on a journey of discovery, which takes him around the future earth into the depths of his own soul. <BR/><BR/>What is it to be human? <BR/><BR/>How do I fit in? <BR/><BR/>These are some of the questions Clay must answer.”<BR/><BR/><I>”… although our beginnings require the certainty<BR/>that begets trust, our mature abilities to negotiate life’s<BR/>vicissitudes require the capacity to hold together in the<BR/>face of uncertainty.” --- L. W. Sander</I>Tom Bombadilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09926239651674777846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-36701983499039527942008-11-14T13:05:00.000-05:002008-11-14T13:05:00.000-05:00There he goes again---with that reason stuff. Hav...There he goes again---with that reason stuff. Have a great weekend, good buddy!jazzologhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647170784964378640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-72222507171877620342008-11-14T11:24:00.000-05:002008-11-14T11:24:00.000-05:00Regarding Rovian politics and GOP economics.....Th...Regarding Rovian politics and GOP economics.....<BR/><BR/>There’s a great deal of hope and cautious optimism today and much of that is based upon the assumption that the ideological frameworks of the past will crash and settle. At least that’s what we progressives hope for.<BR/><BR/>But Reaganomics goes further back than thirty years. It may go back to the eighteenth century (any further back than that I would classify as “human nature.”) when Capitalism was fairly small and a hedge against the power of the aristocracy. That enlightenment intellectuals may have been drawn toward Capitalism’s liberal and progressive aspects didn’t inhibit its profoundly self-serving aspects. (Were there any founders who saw slavery as an expression of Capitalism?) Which apparently were powerful enough to have Marx crying out in horror by the 1840s. By which time the industrial nightmare had taken firm root.<BR/><BR/>Reaganomics was simply a new justification for this ancient striving.<BR/><BR/>Here’s Lincoln on the subject.....<BR/><BR/>"It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle."<BR/><BR/>Because we are undergoing several crisises as a result of this ancient self-centered greed does that mean we will forever abandon it? I think there still remains a very solid framework in American society for the economic tenets of the right. As well as unchanging human nature which may be temporarily held back, due to the crisises, but which will probably emerge again as a new philosophy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-77891295660224693952008-11-14T03:14:00.000-05:002008-11-14T03:14:00.000-05:00Sometimes I'm just so grateful for the psychedelic...Sometimes I'm just so grateful for the psychedelic experiences of the '60s---so that I can follow Internet threads like this with ease and enjoyment. Some Libertarians may be able to talk crazy and know they are doing so, but I know of none who can truly lift off like you people [if there's more than one (Max von Sydow: "There is only one!")].<BR/><BR/>I love David Warner, despite the self-destruction of all his roles, and don't you think Angela Lansbury was more attractive when she played the nasty sidekick girlfriend in the old musicals of the late '40s and early '50s? I am a devotee of horror flicks (that get romantic rather than slashing) but haven't cared for the werewolf genre since Lon Chaney Jr. chased me out of the theater in Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein. <BR/><BR/>And I'm not into child molesters either, although I do appreciate a good child molester joke. Here's one:<BR/><BR/>The child molester is walking in the woods with the little girl, and the child says, "Ooooo, it's dark and spooky in here. I'm scared." <BR/>And the molester says, "You're scared! I've gotta walk out of here alone!"<BR/><BR/>For what I consider a wonderful movie on this subject, look for The Woodsman, from 2004, with Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. This married couple is really sensational together, and the film gets to the heart of the matter.<BR/><BR/>I know this has nothing to do with programming computer networks, but fortunately Barack Obama has that technology as a top priority on his agenda. In Dubuque he said, "When I am President, the very first thing I'm going to do is sign into law the VAXocenter Similarity Act." Go Obama!jazzologhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16647170784964378640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-32450093635706109012008-11-13T20:19:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:19:00.000-05:00Bet me your heart's desire.Bet me your heart's desire.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-52254286524772661012008-11-13T20:17:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:17:00.000-05:00Bet me your compass.Bet me your compass.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-73350477963595048872008-11-13T20:13:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:13:00.000-05:00I'll use my compass to help me across while you tr...I'll use my compass to help me across while you trudge along the dreary path!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-17770674089041939232008-11-13T20:11:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:11:00.000-05:00I'll show you I'm not afraid of the wolves... I'll...I'll show you I'm not afraid of the wolves... I'll make a bet with you. I'll bet you anything you like that I get to your Granny's<BR/>house before you do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-64957414565317942442008-11-13T20:09:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:09:00.000-05:00But Smarthas said that -But Smarthas said that -Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-82378336436774251912008-11-13T20:07:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:07:00.000-05:00Old wives' tales! Peasant superstition! What, a br...Old wives' tales! Peasant superstition! What, a bright young girl - pretty, intelligent girl like you believing in werewolves!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-12849988610350987372008-11-13T20:05:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:05:00.000-05:00You must know the worse wolves are hairy on the in...You must know the worse wolves are hairy on the inside.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-19058277559922944732008-11-13T20:04:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:04:00.000-05:00Why should I be frightened of wolves?Why should I be frightened of wolves?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-73366098501555847842008-11-13T20:03:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:03:00.000-05:00Aren't you afraid of the wolves?Aren't you afraid of the wolves?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-44441982250454023812008-11-13T20:01:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:01:00.000-05:00I just got onto the path. I was perfectly safe bef...I just got onto the path. I was perfectly safe before.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-36918732356948777742008-11-13T20:00:00.000-05:002008-11-13T20:00:00.000-05:00But don't you know you should never leave the path...But don't you know you should never leave the path?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-24637309780247554762008-11-13T19:58:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:58:00.000-05:00I do believe I just found it.I do believe I just found it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-3985866780536852642008-11-13T19:57:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:57:00.000-05:00And lost your way too.And lost your way too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-85611353271585424952008-11-13T19:56:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:56:00.000-05:00Lost my horse and lost my companions...Lost my horse and lost my companions...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-49405325287073978982008-11-13T19:54:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:54:00.000-05:00Where did you spring from?Where did you spring from?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-62382543342811732162008-11-13T19:53:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:53:00.000-05:00There are at least two planetary hours each night ...There are at least two planetary hours each night that correspond favorably to such rituals: The hour ruled by Saturn (good for spirituality of all kinds) and the hour ruled by Mercury (communications, including divination). Some participants favor other planets, and many add the Moon to the hours, since it relates to psychic gifts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-76180813285651563972008-11-13T19:50:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:50:00.000-05:00I am familiar of such picnics such as you speak an...I am familiar of such picnics such as you speak and the rituals that come with them. Quite simple and redundant, as I remember it.<BR/><BR/>"The social role of rituals is always immanent if not explicit. It has long been observed that social structures and the forms religious practices takes among a given group are related... Rituals can serve as mnemonics devices, aiding in the production of shared memories within a community."<BR/>~~Connerton (1986)<BR/><BR/>The redundancy, in the repeating of acts and phrases, serves to naturalize the ritual and has the effect of instilling further the message inherent in the ritual itself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9356414.post-32233789521717736472008-11-13T19:17:00.000-05:002008-11-13T19:17:00.000-05:00Hmm...a bizarre little item here offered to the go...Hmm...<A HREF="http://www.nightgallery.net/index.html" REL="nofollow">a bizarre little item</A> here offered to the gourmet who takes their banquet seriously. <BR/><BR/>A word to the wise: <BR/><BR/><I>"If sometime you're invited to a picnic under the moon, you might best check the other guests, the ones who didn't arrive in automobiles -- who, as a matter of fact, parked their brooms in the corner of the meadow."</I><BR/><BR/>If you're interested in joining, send an e-mail to Night_Gallery-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com