History, that coy dominatrix, loves to trick the credulous human race. In a moment when something we call "democracy" seems to be spreading through the dodgy precincts of the world like a contagion of virtue, the trend is actually going the other way in countries that have practiced it for a while.
That is certainly the case in Europe, especially Greece right now, where the mobs in Syntagma Square denounce their waffling parliament for agreeing to a bailout deal that will make Greece a step-child of Germany. The German voters are none too pleased with this, either, since their country is now on the hook to pay Greece's bills. Ireland, Portugal, and Belgium are standing by for adoption next in Europe's Home for Wayward Children. Spain and Italy may need to become wards of the Euro-state, too, but they are more like adults with drinking problems who are liable to wreck the whole household if invited in.
Anyway, the Greeks rallying in Athens' central square lately are sick of politicians and parliaments, and there is a no small danger that they will soon rise up and dispense with theirs in the dumpster behind the Parthenon. A man in a uniform has a certain appeal in a situation like this. He is comfortable issuing orders in unfavorable situations, in fact, rather thrives on it. The Germans know all about this. Their "savior" back in the 20th century was a fellow in an ersatz military getup who virtually ran for office by denouncing "parliamentarism" and by the time his party occupied a fair portion of the seats in theirs, he burned the darn thing to the ground.
The Irish gaze longingly at little Iceland, out there in the North Atlantic now free of debt obligations from the simple act of raising the middle finger in the direction of the London banks. Ireland is sore tempted to do likewise, and the act would have an appealing historical symmetry to it. They may toss out their parliament to get to it. Staying sober is another matter. In Portugal, they are too busy having lunch, which is a very serious affair, they will assure you, and undertaken in spirit of absolute Iberian fatalism (that beefsteak died for you!). Oh, for the days of Salazar when lunch was decreed eighteen hours a day! Belgium, of course, will always be hopeless - Europe's doormat. And what can you say about a people who slather mayonnaise on their French fries - apart from their amazing failure to discover the miracle of ketchup, despite being overrun by American GIs sixty-odd years ago - and speaking a language that nobody has ever written rock and roll song in.
Europe is held together with baling twine, masking tape, and spit. It's been a fun half-century catering to harmless clownish tourists from Houston, with their "big boss" belt buckles and decoupaged wives. But lately the Chinese visitors look more like bargain-hunters at the preview of an estate auction, sizing up the merchandise, and even the waiters in the cafes know the score. The Grand Palace of Euroland is closing for business. Anybody who thinks that Germany is going to run some kind of halfway house for crackhead countries "in recovery" will be disappointed. The compressive contraction that grips the OECD like economic Lou Gehrig disease will be with us as far ahead as anyone can see.
For sure, there are features of European life that dispose many of its countries to face the long emergency on much better terms than the train wreck across the Atlantic. They know how to get by on much less oil - though the coming energy crisis will still be hard on them. They have excellent public transit already in place (yes, it depends on the energy situation). Their agriculture is scaled much more intelligently. Their cities, too, with some exceptions. But they have a long history of brawling amongst themselves and the recent half-century of peace and prosperity is already taking on the shimmer of a fading mirage. Europe is burning down financially from the outside in while the monster that was known as the global economy lies gasping on the rocky shore of Fukushima. The Euro and the weak political union that went with it, is toast. You can include the outsider England in all that, since their practical circumstances are no better than Spain's or Italy's - perhaps a little worse, even... poor tattered Old Blighty!
By the way, I hope you don't think the homefolks here in the USA are all that deliriously happy with representative government either. These days, despite all Sarah Palin's bluster about "freedom" and "our heritage," elected officials are held in about equal esteem to herpes viruses. Congress and the senate are paralyzed by triviality and the President is too busy golfing to disturb the status quo - which is the status quo of a house on fire. We won't have to wait much longer to find out how unexceptional America actually is.
It's a darn shame, and I mean that literally, because this is exactly what the American public is so ashamed of, and why appeals to the repressed sense of shame based on hyper-patriotic bluster, are so successful. It allows folks to feel great about themselves while they sink into the ooze. It's okay, we're special. I stopped at a convenience store at the edge of the Adirondack Mountains on Saturday afternoon and a more frightening gaggle of disfigured mutts I have never seen before. Has everybody in upstate New York only just been released from prison? The tattoo craze is especially telling. It's one thing to get some tattoos with the idea that you are artfully expressing something. It's another thing to deploy them around your body parts as though you were slapping decals on a 1989 beater car. These mutts had tattoos on their necks, their boobs, the sides of their heads, their knuckles, their ankles. The idea, apparently, is to make yourself appear as frightening as possible - and I can tell you it is a very successful initiative. Can lady Gaga please write us a new national anthem: America the horror movie.
James – I guess Obama is smokin’ some good reefer these days now that the War on Drugs has been declared an international bust. The man himself was in Ohio this week telling folks about the rebirth of the American auto industry. He must think we are all fools. Is that what we need now (as if it were really true), a renewed auto industry? We just keep wanting to believe in the Dream and whatever our professional tinkerers tell us they can make. Enjoy this week’s offering. BTW, next week I will be enroute from Siberia to NYC so I won’t be able to post early. But you can always stop by the main gate for my next update.
http://wp.me/p1lJ1g-99
Stand with Wisconsin!
http://www.gwabert.com/
Good Morning Everyone - Monday mornings would just not be the same without our weekly wake up call from Jimmy. Mismanaging contraction is my mantra these days. Out with the old and in with the new. But there is so little vision out there about how the new could be essentially better than the old as long as we can unplug from our tecno-fantasy and reconnect with one another. Recreating community is our only real salvation but we are being kept so busy fighting over the crumbs of the fading culture that we rarely have or make the time to implement the local, low-energy and revitalizing option which seem to be just buried beneath the surface. Let get out the shovels and dig a little. And while we are at it through some seeds and a bit of compost into he holes and see what comes up.
I think most people just don't care any more. Even Fox is using pictures of Tina Fey instead of Palin - and she works for Fox.
http://i.imgur.com/VkoYl.jpg
Likewise, the banksters are just going through the motions and they don't care. The Greek riots show that *some* people care, just the ones that don't matter.
It's too late to fix America. We just keep sinking ever further into a morass of triviality and ignorance.
Riding Electric Bikes, Installing Solar Panels, and Dreaming of Surfing here.
Been teaching everyone to plant gardens even though I don't know how. You should see some of the gardens our customers have. When does a gardener become a farmer?
And as for Tattoos, yes so many people are so gross. However, if you Tat your whole body right it can sorta look cool, and scary...
Cheers Clusterfuckers.
Enjoy the ride.
Hey, Kim Fahey here. Remember,the big tree house? Anyhow, go to court in three hours to see what the jury has to say about it. They've had the case since Friday. Did all your knee bracing ideas before they shut me down a year ago...Your so right about the tattoos. Even all the Sheriffs and Firemen have them. Some, quite tastefull! Yeah, right....Still read your column every Monday. Since I might be gone for SEVEN YEARS, try and catch up on 'em when I return. Hope all is well, keep putting out the truth my friend..Check out, 'Save Phonehenge West', on the Facebook deal. People have posted cool photo's...
James, "Congress and the Senate" are the same thing. Go a little slower. :)
"American Exceptionalism" was simply what happened when English colonists were the first to develop and exploit resources that Native Americans hadn't yet touched. I'll leave out any moral discussion, but the point is, subsequent generations were just like the children of rich parents who didn't do enough to raise their kids to be responsible. Any legacy has been squandered and America is about to be sent to the poorhouse, and the trip will be very rough.
Visit http://leibowitzsociety.blogspot.com to get involved with efforts to save our essential knowledge and learnings as we enter a new dark age.
The man himself was in Ohio this week telling folks about the rebirth of the American auto industry.
The one mention I heard of it on Detroit's all-news radio station was during a traffic report about "a motorcade in Toledo." The station never mentioned that it was the President's, even though I'd read about it the day before.
Is that what we need now (as if it were really true), a renewed auto industry?
I live in Detroit, so I have a bias, but it was a smart move for him politically over the short-term. There will still be an auto industry next year, which means there will be people that will be grateful and vote for him because of it. What 2016 will bring will be someone else's problem.
Speaking of Detroit, the place is figuring out what to do next and how to thrive in the middle of being the largest municipality aware that it is managing contraction (Chicago has been contracting over the past few decades and has 25% fewer people than at its peak, but it doesn't seem to have any awareness that it's been managing contraction). Last week, I posted about how growing food is becoming central to the future and identity of Detroit. This week, I found that art and culture might fill the number two spot in the future identity of Detroit. The resulting spectacle has attracted the attention of the adventurous in New York and London. I documented the reaction in Detroit as a travel destination? The New York Times, BBC, and Financial Times think so. Yes, Detroit, Ground Zero of the post-industrial future, is now a place for the cutting-edge tourist who wants to see art, agriculture, and grand ruins, exactly what one would expect in "A World Made by Hand."
Of course, not all the news here is upbeat. For starters, The well-off neighborhoods are hiring paramilitary patrols to keep themselves safe, but that's a topic for next time.
we dumbed down the whole society along with its norms of behavior to make people more "equal". whose idea was that.
Well, JHK
I think it's pretty obvious that something is operating this runaway train, a system of little disasters and collapses around the world__and it isn't the people who elect their representatives. Something else is afoot and it's become more evident with each passing day.
It's all about the global seamless banking system which has already received $Trillions of US tax-payer dollars and will continue to receive more with each passing bubble and demise.
It's the system you see and Obama has little to say about it. It's all part of the WTO and IMF scheme at this point.
The US will be the same as everybody else, no better and worse--only because we didn't plan for peak oil (as you point out).
If you follow Max Keiser, you will have noticed that the economist Michael Hudson has been advising countries like Iceland to just say no to the banksters who set them up for neo-feudalism, otherwise known as debt peopnage. We will all be there sooner or later, because that's the global system we set-up.
There is a calculous of change and I'm afraid even our CEOs and oligarchy may be in for a big surprise. It will be interesting to see what happens if China decides to nationalize companies when we default on our T-bills.
Let's see what the Tea-party folks who run Republican policy do about the debt ceiling...and as I said yesterday on this blog whether Obmama will blink first.
He could go down as the Democrat who smashed Roosevelt for good....
Hear! Hear! Kunstler about Europe, unhindered by rancor, unflustered by facts.
HURRAY FOR POLICE BRUTALITY!!!
MY COUNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG!!!!
AMERICA-LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!!
THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM!!!!
RON PAUL/SARA PALIN-2012!!!!
SUSPEND THE CONSTITUTION AND DECLARE MARTIAL LAW!!!
SUSPEND MARTIAL LAW AND RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION!!!
FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES ARE NOT LAWFUL MONEY!!!
NOBODY KNOWS WHAT LAWFUL MONEY IS ANYWAY!!!
REPUDIATE THE NATIONAL DEBT!!!
REPUDIATE THE NATION!!!!
EXECUTE BY FIRING SQUAD THOST FOUND GUILTY OF SILENT DANCEING !!!
THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE THE SILENT MAJORITY!!!!
RE-ELECT SPIRO AGNEW!!!
THE SOUTH WILL RISE ONCE IN A WHILE!!!!
PASS THE MOUNTAIN DEW!!!!
HURRAY FOR GAY RIGHTS AND WAR!!!
EXECUTE ALL FOREIGN GOATHERDS!!!
JHK ROCKS!!!!
1111
Let's see, what's the last country to tell the bankers to go to hell and rebuild their shattered economy into a powerhouse?
Oh yeah, it was Nazi Germany. Their finance director
got hanged for it. Our finance directors get billion dollar bonuses for destroying our economy.
You can't have it both ways.
Nazism and the German economic miracle
"From the Third Reich to the current regime of Gerhard Schroeder, Germany has shown remarkable ability to achieve economic prominence in the face of overwhelming odds - including those it imposed on itself through ultra-nationalism, militarism and racism".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GE24Dj01.html
Neon Vincent - Of course, Chicago has been in the community vegetable garden business for quite some time, as I recall. I was in Hyde Park in '76 and the gardens were all around.
Kunstler on Hitler and the Reichstag (German parliament and building housing it):
"...he burned the darn thing to the ground."
A wild exaggeration and allegation. The building did not suffer structural damage during the fire for which a supposedly communist or socialist arsonist was arrested, convicted and executed. The Nazis managed to exploit the event to their advantage, which led to unproven suspicions that they themselves were the arsonists. [Allied bombing during WWII did cause structural damage on the building; it stood in ruins until after German re-unification. Restored and adorned with a modern cupola, it now serves as parliament building for the lower house of the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.
I am starting a petition to create a national neck tattoo registry. If you are dumb and scary enough to get your head or neck tattooed, then you ought to be required to have an RFID chip implanted in your body so the rest of us can run like hell when you come around.
Aimlow Joe was here
http://www.aimlow.com
Pssstttt....
Here's some hot investment advice.
Tattoo removal. Just think of a franchise in every strip mall?
The whole TAT thang is starting to sound a little grumpy, but is reflective of an underlying despair, IMHO. We let our hair grow and the punkers spiked it, goths in black and everyone is pierced. But the TATS are on one level heartbreaking, so many seem drifting and disconnected with anger. Do they see themselves as " Mutts"? SOLAR GUY, check out our Fb page at SPRING BAY FARM to see if we qualify, this for a little love and light.. All best cfners, Noel.
The closer we get to the universal economic reset button the more shrill the voices become advising us both how good things are, as well as the contrarians who advise us how bad they are. Europe is in terrible shape and the best our leaders can offer is to hold out one days longer than the European Central Bank. We do that we are saved, they say.
On the subject of corn pone fascism it is as well to remember that Germany's "Jewish Problem" pre-dated Nazism by several centuries. Wagner, the most notorious anti-Semite died long before Nazism appeared. The Final Solution was the solution chosen by the Nazis for a problem that had "plagued" Germany for years prior to 1942. We tend to view the Holocaust as a solution to a problem created by the Nazis. They were just ridingba national bandwagon whichnis why Germans never did ride up.
How that relatesnto home grown mutters in 20th century America I'm not sure, but writing as an immigrant I am nervous.
Yeah, the sky really is falling... but... The masses have no inkling of what is happening. The great majority of people are like deer standing on the tracks of the fast approaching peak oil train. Whoo! Whoo! But they can't hear the warning whistle. And they don't see the headlights either. So it's hopeless. I would say Chris Hedges might be right in his Zero Point of Systemic Collapse.
For the very latest on jackboot thuggery:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/
Funny how Obama came to Toledo last week to visit the Jeep plant and do his campaign cheerleading only a week after the mayor of Toledo got back from China trying to sell the marina district to Chinese investors. You can't make this shit up!
Good column this week.
I don't see the tat thing the same way you do, it's probably not that much different than sporting long hair in 1971 (if you were a male) or an earring in 1981 (likewise).
Could you get two basic errors in your reporting corrected? Belgians, in the main, speak two languages: Flemish and French. I assume you refer to Flemish when you make the hyperbolic statement that Belgians speak "a language that nobody has ever written rock and roll song in," which is a cute aside, but ignores the fact that 38% of Belgians speak French as a first language, and French is most certainly a language in which rock songs have been written. ("Ça Plane Pour Moi," by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand comes to mind.)
Also, even though this error is so common in the US that correcting it is truly futile, I still want to say that England does not equal Britain or the UK. England is one country within the UK. Why we Americans don't just use the one-word term Britain (which is the term that English-speakers throughout the world use) instead of the inaccurate one-word term England to describe, well, Britain, is beyond my comprehension.
I know you make lots of grand, sweeping, and hyperbolic statements, but if you're basic stuff is not rooted in accuracy, you lose your credibility, in my opinion.
Three years ago I cashed in and checked out to a European country (non Euro-zone). Best move I ever made. I no longer own a car simply because the beautiful city I live in has awesome public transportation. And train service to anywhere I would want to go.
The other day I was waiting for a tram that obviously wasn't coming (it happens occasionally, car accidents, break downs, and the like). Being a less than patient person I just started walking, but I've noticed in the past that some people will stand there and wait all day. This struck me as a fitting analogy of America, a bunch of people waiting for a tram that isn't coming. "Oh, but the government promised it is coming, and it has always come in the past, and it couldn't possibly not come this time, we will just stay in place and believe - and wait".
By the way, I can always spot Americans amongst the many tourists even before I hear them. They are by far the largest, and the loudest.
I'll end with this link that says it all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6tJ6VG9AM
Lovely Jimmy boy. Talking about a German history of which you are quite confused. The burning of the building and the takeover and all that stuff which becomes american legend. And when you look at the americans who put ketchup on their fries it makes you want to cry or die. Except most are so fat they will die first. And somehow you think you can give the Europeans any lesson in economics? If you've ever been in a French or Germany factory or even analyzed some of there statistics you might note that they are significantly more productive on an hourly basis than americans are. No wonder they can sit in cafes, sipping Pernod, and enjoying the day. Yes problems abound, but no need to even cross the NY state line to find tons.
Just try to remember that as frustrating and depressing as the USA can be, there is incredibly worse out there.
Man, what have you got against tattoos? Fashion is fashion; no fashion is intrinsically more decadent except for from the perspective of a narrow-minded reactionary.
Nice week's work for us, JHK!
Well, the Germans are (again!) becoming the dominant economic force in Europe. One does wonder what sorts of Global Elite planning and twists of historical fate might propel them into military/cultural dominance of Europe, once again.
Meanwhile, the Chinese seem to have perfected their lessons concerning American-Style Free Market Capitalism, but with an nice overlay of dictatorship. If the wheels stay on the clown car long enough, it appears that the Germans will eventually acquire all the marbles in Europe. The Chinese will accumulate all the remaining useful marbles from around the World - including many that now belong to the US of A.
What keeps the wheels attached to the clown car?
Relatively stable global climate
Sea levels that stay where they "belong"
US military hegemony
Create your own list
Good Luck
it is worse out there than here. i was in guatemala 3 weeks ago. the conditions there make the small run down american towns,that jhk deplores, look like heaven. there is no solution other than population control. letting as many as want to move here will only bring those same conditions here. for at least 30 years a sizable majority of americans have wanted to curtail immigration but the ptb have said no. everyone on this blog generally think that americans are stupid, but maybe it is our leader who are stupid.
wally world has a special on huggies - a free tat with every 3rd box purchased
James I have said this before and it is worth repeating:
History seeks to explain the rise and fall of empires and nations, memorializing those notable personalities and dramatic events that collectively comprise the delicate fabric of its carefully crafted narratives. America, in large measure, stands as benefactor and apotheosis in this arduous historical legacy. But the whole story – from its stunning beginnings in the ancient Near East nearly six-thousand years ago to our post-millennial American hegemony – the entire edifice rests upon a small cluster of hypotheses about the world and how it works; about the logic of scientific inquiry and historical narrative, about the nature of language and social discourse itself. These assumptions continue to shoulder our commonsense understanding of life in civil society today, including our own personal histories, while thwarting any recollection of what was lost with the emergence of history and the story of civilization.
The overarching vision, with its underlying assumptions and expectations, has peaked and crystalized itself in the now-taken-for-granted concept of 'American exceptionalism', our self-proclaimed political, economic, and moral superiority, and the apparent hegemony of our cultural values. It is these expectations and values that have been spread across the globe like wildfire, as we have pursued a policy of global dominance and cultural transformation or occupation. Some groups, nation-states and countries find these values desireable, others abhorrent. Some try to mold themselves to the vision enunciated by such expectations, while others arm themselves to the teeth to fight-off its insidious occupiers.
Having planted our flag at the forefront of western civilization and declared our own 'manifest destiny,' we Americans continue to believe that we have set the right example for mankind to follow, and that we are justified leading the rest of the human race to fulfill its proper role in our civilization. We set ourselves up long ago as protectors of moral virtue, cultural innovation, political power, economic progress, and human rights. And much of the western world has followed our lead in this myopic belief, unchallenged until very recently.
http://kulturcritic.wordpress.com/posts/tinkerers-on-the-scaffolding-and-the-recovery-of-ecstasy/
To laughingasromewasburningdown,
Tattoos are essentially permanent. You can always get a haircut or remove an earring. I have to side with JHK here.
To JHK,
I just read both A World Made by Hand and The Witch of Hebron and enjoyed them both. I read Witch in one sitting. I don't always agree with your column, but I appreciate your skill with the language.
The other day, as I waited for the streetcar en route to work, I saw a policeman cycle by, handlebars in one hand, cell phone in the other. He was texting. Giant tattoo exposed on his right calf. A few minutes later, on board the streetcar, I saw the same cop writing someone a parking ticket. I know, who cares, but somehow my heart sank.
Mark Mobius has been saying that another financial crisis is inevitable because nothing has changed since the last one. The total "value" of over the counter financial derivatives is ten times global GDP according to him.
IMO the majority of these derivatives have as much underlying economic reality as if you place a bet with your local bookie (Louie the Louse). Should the govt bail out Louie because he has to make good?
Why should it be legal for you to buy insurance against a bond default if you don't even own the bond ie a credit default swap?
Govts have taken extraordinary measures to sustain the unsustainable to paraphrase Mr K. But I have a half baked idea. Why not take a really extra-ordinary measure like making a law, even an ex post facto law, legally invalidating derivatives contracts that caused so much trouble?
So companies like Goldmans will no longer be able to speculate in derivatives. If Goldmans has a bazillion in derivatives contracts on its balance sheet and other financial institutions are the counter-parties to Goldman's bets these bets will disappear off their respective balance sheets.
Not all derivatives contracts will be illegal. If you are in a business where you need to buy oil in the future and you need to make a futures contract to nail down the price you can still do this in my scheme. But if all you are doing is speculating and you have no intention of either taking delivery of oil or delivering oil then such a contract will become illegal.
So if there is no underlying economic reality to a derivative contract and if you are just a smarty pants Wall Streeter in the business of speculating then forget it. You will have to find an honest way to make a living. Become a drug dealer. At least you are making something and selling something real.
@lil'lulu Your data is long out of date and from a second hand source. Have a look at this data and see what you make of it. http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=LEVEL. You may revise your view about how productive some countries (nay socialist countries) can be.
I thought the number was more like a billion in dire poverty.
They talk about the end of Europe and the end of the euro.
But, believe me, Europeans have never been so much alike.
When you touch the bottom you find out there are many just like you.
What would Europe need to be more stable?
Say good bye to Germany.
Let the Germans go back to their mark and let ALL the others stay with their Euro.
Everybody will be happy, including the Germans.
And no fear at all about the euro collapsing, as usual, Americans will come first.
"It's one thing to get some tattoos with the idea that you are artfully expressing something. It's another thing to deploy them around your body parts as though you were slapping decals on a 1989 beater car."
Jim - I sure hope that when you travel you go incognito. Maybe wrap-around sunglasses and a fedora. If one of these "mutts" ever recognizes you, it'll be all over.
Capitalism per se is the Sow that eats its own young. Capitalism must be guided by Goverment for the good of the People as is done in Japan and Germany. And that's what they don't want us to know - that it can work as witnessed in the economic miracle of Nazi Germany where the People told the International Bankers to get out.
That video was the best! JHK should watch it.
And her prayers were instantly answered!
I'm not an atheist anymore, after watching God respond to that woman's pleas so quickly.
So, a distant relative is rebuilding a 69 Chevy Camaro in his garage, real 'American Iron', from a time, far back, when fuel was cheap and cars were fast. He listed his cars attributes: Jimmy small block engine, Holley carbs, dual exhaust, slicks, 4 on the floor tranny, supercharger, beefed up clutch, motor pushing 350 horses, a special candy paint job with a racing stripe. Yes, this dude has tatts, not too many, 'Chevy' on right forearm, 'Camaro' on right forearm, tastefully done. Talk about American Exceptionalism! Its really an impressive project, consuming not little time and capital. Hey, who gives a shit about arcane financial events in Europe, anyway? I asked him, Joe wouldn't this money be better spent on something else, or even saved? Why are you doing this? His answer, "I like to burn rubber".
How can you argue with logic like that?
-Marlin
Forget it Jim, Americans are too busy slicing and dicing one another, so as goes the lyrics of one of Rod Stewart’s songs, “The First Cut is the Deepest”.
Joe Bageant expresses it best in his two books Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War followed by Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir. On the book covers’ back flap read the reviews by Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel, Mark Crispin Miller, among others.
The most poignant point in my view is how “po white folk” have had their history instilled survival value of being “hard working, self sufficient” turned on its head by decades of neocon owned media propagandizing, transforming the virtue into a self-flagellation instrument.
That is to say, they blame themselves for their predicament of economic underclass that actually has been socially/culturally engineered by our nation’s ruling oligarchs.
Ironically, today’s self proclaimed Left (mostly the urban educated professional set still believing it has an upper birth on the ship of state not yet threatened by rising tsunami of cheap immigrant labor from Third World countries – well, not until just lately with the HB-1 green card holders) have reinforced the negative effect by embracing the justification for so called “immigration reform” (actually, an opening wider the flood gates to more Third World desperate masses who’d further scab jobs out from under the “po white folk” who’s desperate case does not have the PC cachet of other historically economically oppressed populations in America).
The banner phrase held high by the self anointed Left is, “illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans won’t do”. Bullshit!, should be the obvious reply by anyone vaguely acquainted with American’s history of class war. I believe Joe voices it best.
The deepest pain / pleasure ever is often mostly the imagined pain / pleasure of others (family ties, what happens to "loved" ones, etc.), strange as you can't touch what others feel or sense, it is a religion, you have to believe, it is a faith, a denotation, an indirection, a symbol, abstraction. And yet almost all we do is so strongly tied to others, their judgment, their assumed pain/pleasure that you are provoking (or you imagine provoked, and our own as reflected), in all senses and endeavors, that is why the debates, the communication, all of work - working for others, as others see and measure you and what you do just like you measure others, social interactions and transactions. Of course none of it is real, it is just strongly programmed in our mind to make believe that others are real, but you can unprogram this and be a simple robot like, and free from any measurements. And just force all you want, just your Free Will dominates all 100 %. Pretty hard, but not for modified minds. We "worship" others and their reactions to our communication, we are abstract - religious machines from the outset, automatically.
Others are so, so important, terrorists kill themselves for others, for an imaginary common world where we are all together (nothing further from the truth) and we waste man hours on end being all involved in debates and others, and so forth and so on. Nothing further from the truth, there is nothing, no one exists (and even if others exist, who cares ? why care ? why have this religion ? break all the rules, we are free), we are just a machine made up of independent parts that have been programmed to sense and communicate and assume others, strange but not so strange, animals use instincts. Anyways whatever, this must be deprogrammed real fast.
Anyways, more than a command language we have an assignment language, in the 1960s no one talked about innovation and competition as today, so all the talk is just subtly programming people and assigning how reality must be. All language ends up being a programming language, how societies are programmed.
Of course I want Rockets and Skyscrapers (they are all just artistic choices and preferences in the end as opposed to start ups and facebook) and China may be the ones really making these it seems, or at least I want more of these so as everyone gains in having a constructive acivity that adds up. But even my model is arbitrary, all models are just inventions, none is better than any others, so. All models are false and have zero value. I love to contradict myself.
Of course by criticizing other models and all it seems that I don't want to be "measured" and judged, you are right, and I want to measure and judge all according to my model, but being that all models are wrong or inventions, I just want my Will Power to dominate.
So they null themselves, the fight of models zero themselves.
That link pretty much does say it all. Thanks for sharing it with us.
It isn't the "Left" that is pushing the "doing the jobs Americans won't do".
It is the ruling class and the corporate media. This is because they want cheap labor.
You are repeating nonsense that you have been told, by the rightwing corporate media, no doubt.
Your latest screed: a nice summary of globollixation. Maybe strung together they form a narrative a bit like S. Pepy's diary, which I have never read. At least Elizabeth Pepys appears to have had no visible tatoos on her upper body.
-Phut.
Marlin,
That's hilarious! And it's true - once upon a time American made machinery and tools were the envy of the world. Thanks for the laugh.
Well, this post is a yawner.
Maybe changing the words darn to dam, darn shame to fn pathetic, and ooze to shit, would sharpen it up a bit.
Naw, people in this country are too stupid to understand about the decline and fall - of everything - described in any fashion.
They were just ridingba national bandwagon whichnis why Germans never did ride up.
How that relatesnto home grown mutters in 20th century America I'm not sure...
==============
riding a
which is
relates to
Conch, the recently new term for this type of error is "fat finger." In each of the three cases you struck either a b or an n when, obviously, wishing to strike the space bar.
No problem ... we all make mistakes. But must we always click SUBMIT without first proofreading our comment?
-doing the jobs americans won't do-
I would really like to know the origin of this phrase. I associate it with the BushII era when he and the big business Republicans were trying to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
It is hard for me to understand why any group that is associated with immigrant rights would use "We're doing the jobs Americans won't do..." as one of their talking points.
There is something horrible about the phrase.
The idea that there are some jobs so horrible and foul that they are beneath the dignity of ALL native born Americans - so that these jobs can ONLY be performed by a desperate and newly arrived immigrant.
This idea drips with class consciousness and evil.
Not to mention that the children and grandchildren of these immigrants "won't do" those jobs either - so it is impossible to ever get off this treadmill of unsustainably high immigration - as population numbers in the United States continue to slowly crush ecosystems and peoples - out of sight, and around the Globe.
A bus driver in Spain was using two cell phones and driving with his knees. It's all good. The passengers complained for some reason.
Recent political developments in Britain suggest we may see the UK breaking up long before the Euro does. In May the Scottish National Party won enough seats in the Scottish parliament to force a referendum on independence.
This will almost certainly happen, and the Scots will most likely vote for it, which will be interesting, what with (the remnants of) North Sea oil all being around Scotland...
The Euro, btw, is probably here to stay. It works for France and Germany, and it's hard to imagine the rest actually wanting to go back to zloty, drachma, lira, etc.
Nations as diverse as Turkey and Serbia are clamouring to join the EU and the Euro. Even in xenophobic little England all but the most deranged, neo-facist political parties accept that leaving the EU would be economic suicide.
Interestingly, the very existence of the Euro undermines the power of the US dollar.
What's with the title of today's post? It is all about Europe but the title is "American Exceptionalism." Don't get it...
Yep, anywhere "I want" to go. Of course not necessarily everywhere you want to go. Still want to sign-up?
OK, maybe on the streets the Italians hold the medal for loudest, but in a restaurant Americans can't be beat (especially in groups of four or more). And as far as largest though, there is absolutely positively no doubt who gets that gold... :-)
The Elite, both so called Left and so called Right, hate the White Under Class. With the Right, it's a traditional class thing. With the Left, it's racism - even though the Leftists are overwhelming White themselves. Don't ask me to explain it - I could but you wouldn't believe me. We have to expand the definition of the word Racism to fit people who are prejudiced against people of their own race. The Jewish idea of the self hating Jew can help us here.
In any case, it not Right against Left anymore, but us against Them. The Them being the New World Order, the Illuminati or whatever you want to call them. Their local branches include the Council of Foreign Relations and The Skull and Bones - also known as The Order.
"Point taken. Now why the FUCK don't you try..."
-lil'jimbo/tsa/ling/tooTsie/lil'infintiy, to Q-
Thanks for helping one of the CFN trolls identify himself this week, Q.
Note to thread - there is no reason to respond to this poster, since lil'lulu/lil'jimbo/etc. will respond with profanity and insult when ideas fail him - which happens frequently.
He will now demonstrate this "talent" in his response to me.
I attended a local festival last Friday night, the usual type with lots of rides for the kids and carnies pushing stupid games with no takers. The real shocker was the fact that you couldn't tell the carnies from the crowd. Almost every person was covered in tattoos, obese and ugly as sin. The kids were as horrifying as the adults where all the boys were dressed up like gang-bangers and the girls looked like drug addicted whores. If that's the future, then there isn't much of one.
the left wants voters, the globalist want cheap labor. this is destroying the good thing we had going. it prevents us reaching a consensus on dealing with our problems.
Dang, dude. You OD on caffeine this morning?
I have no problem if people want to brand themselves like NASCARs, but neck tats really do give the silent message, "Don't hire me. I'm a criminal."
Do you think farmers could fill all the seasonal positions with 100% US labor? They say they could not. Do you believe them?
Why did they use it - because it was true, at least for a time. Whites wouldn't work in the hot kitchens and fields for those wages. Now they might though - and more all the time. Accordingly, they stopped using that phrase two years ago when the economy collapsed and we were losing half a million jobs per month.
The immigrants were able to survive on those wages by thrift of course and cramming in a dozen to a room. But that's just at the begining. They learn how to connect up with social services and how to game the system. In recent years, many have jumped over the whole labor/poverty stage via the American Baby syndrome. And once here, they start bringing in their relatives.
Once amnestied or tied in with social services, the immigrants wont work those jobs either. So if allowed to, the Elite will continue to bring in new immigrants to exploit. And of course there is the Democratic Party's political angle - more immigrants equals more votes. In any case, the decison has come down from on high to have 400 million people here by 2050 and create a White Minority. By hook or by crook they intend to do just that. There is no economic need for this at all and it's an ecological nightmare. It is being done as part of the Illuminati's plan to destroy the West - and ultimately rule the World.
"It is being done as part of the Illuminati's plan to destroy the West - and ultimately rule the World."
Don't forget the part of the shape-shifting aliens from Zeta Reticuli in all this...
Except the Nazis got all kinds of help from international and domestic banks, including Wall Street, as well as German and foreign corporations.
http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/
Oh, well. So much for facts.
That video was awesome, yet horrifying at the same time.
Agree 100% with what you are saying. Inside Job - the documentary - shows just how these investment banks made money from both sides.. Such criminals, enabled by our government.
Sarcasm meter not working this Monday?
Everything today is fantastic from Jim's marvelously depressing essay to some really superlative posts from the likes of cash & cavepainter, not to denigrate the others. It's hard to improve or add so I'll just blurt out some thoughts that erupted forth from my subconscious: [1] With the extreme hoodlum look sported by so many including full sleeve tattos etcetera ad nauseum ad infinitum it's no goddamn wonder that every cheesy little job now comes with drug testing. After all, these people totally look the part of someone shifty who needs to be spied upon. So much for the rest of our civil liberties; [2] Never forget that there was an attempted fascist coup during the Roosevelt [Franklyn] administration which fortunately was foiled by Marine Gen. Smedly Butler. He turned them in to some federal agency like the secret service or the FBI; [3] Maybe if there is a coup de etat at some point in the future the successful faction will declare a new republic and repudiate the national debt especially if they feel confident that they could handily defeat China in a lightning strike; [4] If someone had foreknowledge of such plans they could intentionally wreck the economy first in order to benefit from that prior to moving on to the next thing after the coup.
And finally we need a national homesteading program and the government needs to stop pretending that what we now have is business as usual.
Yes the Left loves immigrants not for the cheap labor but because they provide the votes that get them elected. And of course because they will slowly destroy the West thru demographic transformation. As stupid as Communism is, at the level of tactics it never fails in its brilliance. Communists have nothing against Whites per se, they simply want them diminished in numbers in order to destroy Western Culture. Only White Conservatives could be so stupid as to not see a relationship between a Race and the Culture of that Race.
If these tactics work against Asians, they will be used against them once we are out of the way. All races and cultures must be amalgamated and destroyed in order to create the human ant hill global society that Communists dream of. Why anyone would want such a bland nothingness is beyond me.
"Do you think farmers could fill all the seasonal positions with 100% US labor? They say they could not. Do you believe them?"
-turkle-
Turkle, it's not the farmers I don't believe - It's the Big Ag operators and the big corporate growers, and their National Chamber of Commerce allies.
If there were no easily exploited/recently immigrated/third world labor to pick crops for what seems to average out around $10/hour - then YEAH - most of it would get done for some more money.
(It's happening in Georgia now, since they passed a mandatory E-verify law - Effective July 1st)
I think American Big Ag is more concerned with being competitive around the globe. They want to be sure American grapes will be competitive on price with Chilean grapes (or whatever the produce de jur is)
The only way American Ag can compete with world Ag is with cheap and exploitable immigrant labor - for a little while longer, at any rate.
Sounds like American software writing/American design work/American engineering - except these were outsourced.
You can't outsource picking veggies - so they insourced cheap labor instead - same outcome, though.
Every year I take a look at the NBA Finals, just to see if I can spot anything I might like about basketball. This year it is startling to see all the tattoos - especially curious why someone with dark skin might mar themselves like that. America in the 21st century - noise, bad taste, pointlessness and absurd hubris.
Jim - I sure hope that when you travel you go incognito. Maybe wrap-around sunglasses and a fedora. If one of these "mutts" ever recognizes you, it'll be all over.
===========
The odds that "one of these mutts" is even aware of Jim's existence much less recognizing him is about as likely as them winning the next Mega Zillion Power Ball Lottery.
And the Communists didn't get help from Wall Street? Sure they funded Germany a bit, there was money to be made after all. But clearly they wanted the Communists to triumph. But just in case Germany won or survived somehow, they wanted to have a hand in there as well.
It's by funding both sides of every conflict that the International Bankers have come this far - as they did in the American Civil War. The hand that lends is stronger than the hand the recieves. Thus they have gotten stronger with every war for the last two hundred years.
So JHK is being critized by some posters for getting small details of European history wrong. To that I respond: at least he knows Europe HAS a history. For many Americans, knowledge of history is restricted to what happened within their own borders and nowhere else. Hell, many are only dimly aware the rest of the world even exists.
At our house, we have gotten hooked on old episodes of Family Feud, where the contestants demonstrate their utter lack of knowledge about just about everything on a daily basis. Asked for the best city in the world, the answers were New York and L.A. Forget London or Paris, or even Hong Kong, it was USA all the way. In another question about American states, several of the worthy players identified cities instead. Apparently they didn't know a state was different than a city. Du'uh.
We make no apologies for spending our time on trivialites like this, it's amusing and confirms our own Canadian superiority since we usually have the right answers more than the players do. Hey, we all have to get our jollies somehow and it's better than American Idol or the latest weird and disgusting reality show: Freaky Eaters. JHK would love that, last night it was a very large woman who only ate french fries with melted cheese all over them. At least it was real cheddar cheese and not the powdered variety. Guess that makes her a gourmet by American standards.
I shouldn't allow myself this degree of hubris though, your decline is coming just five minutes later to Canada. Certainly the tattoo crowd has already arrived. One wonders if you have to breed children before age 18 to get them, since most of them are pushing baby strollers with dirty, sad little kids strapped inside. Is it possible to be doomed from birth?
And what about Roosevelt setting up Pearl Harbor and laying the foundation for the Welfare State? Perhaps a coup was called for - it's "rightness" would depend on who was doing it, why, and what their agenda was. The Founders gave us this right too.
YIKES !
I have Always felt out of place tho I was born and have lived my whole life in USA / California.
I am applying for a passport soon. Getting things in order. In case I want to make a break.
Good for you for getting out and getting to a more Realistic place.
Yes I can imagine many Americans being the Loudest and biggest for sure. Gross. Not all, just so many.
I am the one who has Never Ate a Mac Donalds' or any other fast food hamburger ! So that's something !
I've always experienced the American Way the way JHK describes it, been reading him since Home From Nowhere. One of my all time favorite writers / thinkers.
And I also am so tired of driving and the way most drive here. So rude and reckless and thoughtless and intentionally out to get you / me.
"So rude and reckless and thoughtless and intentionally out to get you / me."
BTW, many other countries are far worse.
Oh Vlad, what would we do without you to explain everything to us? Racism against people of one's own race? What have you been drinking? That's plain old fashioned classism, nothing more. Hardly a new phenomenon, and hardly different just because it's practised by alleged leftists.
Please, refrain from explaining anything else. Your silly conspiracy theories are pathetic.
If it's Us against Them, please tell us if you are an Us or a Them. I'd hate to find myself on the same side as you.
"Please, refrain from explaining anything else."
Seconded.
Great answer. Small farmers and contractors have to survive so they have to play the game as it is given to them. Alot of these guys would welcome a return to law and order I'm sure. The Turkels of the world always become free marketeers when it comes time for Goverment to do something that helps the Nation and not World Communism. He's so slippery that he can't even feel himself. So crooked that he doesn't even recognize himself coming and going. He shifts his ground so fast that he himself doesn't even realize he's become Milton Friedman.
My tattoo story: A few years ago I had a 52 CarryAll {early model surburban - for you furiners}. I stuffed a straight-six and tranny out of a chevy wagon in it and rewired everything. Then I got 5 cans of paint and enlisted an eqaul number of seven-year-olds and told them I wanted this rig painted! We taped off the windows and wheels and they painted a camo-blend of earth-tones. I could park it in woods or desert and most people would walk right up on it before recognizing it as a vehicle.
When I put the ad up, the first fellow to appear was a long haired skinny fellow on a HD with color beginning at his knuckles and covering every square inch of visible skin. He asked me if he could put two hundred bucks down and bring me two hundred bucks a day till it was payed for. Everyday he appeared with a different vehicle and gave me two franklins. On the last day his girlfriend brought him and he drove away in the saloon-door carryall, waving goodbye. I told my boys it just seemed right - cause they were both painted just alike.
When I said YIKES I was referring to the NASCAR video.
forgot to mention that.
You aren't on the same side with me. And you are against Whites in favor of non-Whites. You are part of the problem. You have bought ALL of the conditioning the Masters gave you at college - and now you resent it when someone tells you so. You prefer to fancy yourself someone educated. What a joke. You were conditioned and then trained to pass that on to others and to defend it as well.
Vlad you're giving me a headache. Do you believe everything you see and hear on Fox News?
Here's some reality for you, although it isn't as exciting as your stupid New World Order theories. Immigrants come to North America to escape the miserable poverty at home. They don't want to live twelve to a room anymore, they want decent jobs, decent lives and hope for their children. Just like us. Funny, that.
As for social services, thanks to so called "welfare reform" they hardly exist anymore, and certainly don't provide the income or dignity that immigrants, or anyone else, is looking for to improve their lives. Of course, if you believe Fox News, it's all one big gravy train, isn't it?
Your beliefs are based on insecurity, jealousy and hatred. You need an underclass so you can feel better about yourself and have someone else to blame for the country's problems. Try looking in the mirror to find the real perpetrator. People like you are living dinosaurs, interesting only for the sake of curiosity.
"You aren't on the same side with me."
It must be lonely over there on your side...
C'mon Jackie, stay here and tough it out with the rest of us. Don't leave the USA.
Jackie, were you one of those sun drenched California blonds the Beach Boys used to sing about? Here on the East Coast that was just a dream for us. That's how I have you pictured in my minds eye, JackieBlue
-Marlin
What were his tatoos? Biker? Religious? Mom? Maybe he was a Druid and you didn't recognize him.
I have a dancing girl on my bicep and she dances when I flex. It's very exciting.
Wow, talk about national Alzheimer’s disease; I’m amazed at how quickly is being erased national memory. Maybe erased is the wrong word, probably more like disappeared.
Anyway, try to find the book Fruit Fields in My Blood: Okie Migrants in the West, by Toby F. Sonneman. Read it; you’ll learn what most people my age actually experienced or witnessed. That is, even up until the late 1970s most itinerant farm labor in America (except in southern California and other border state) were still poor whites and blacks who’d decades earlier been systematically and intentionally pushed off family farms or out of share cropping and truck farming by rigged shipping rates, banking policies and pricing on farm product.
Sure, they’d gotten a screwing there, followed though by the screwing they got once they’d sought security by settling in manufacturing, only to see that subsequently blown out from under them by off-shoring, destruction of the unions and influx of foreign nationals from Third World nations to undercut those wages just as those same factors kept farm labor wages depressed in general, including the fruit fields.
Of course now though the Left, which has become as doctrinaire as the Right, is shouting that America is too much like tofu; too white, too lacking in texture (soft) and having no flavor of its own -- needing to be spiced up with some other essence.
Yeah, its easy taking shots at an underclass already generations deep; all the sterotypes are well in place, obscured from the national memory as to how social engineering brought them about.
"Of course now though the Left, which has become as doctrinaire as the Right"
Perhaps this is the case in your Canadian political scene but not here in 'Merica. The Left, as usual, is a circus composed of a big grab bag of different causes and interests, hardly able to agree on any old thing, except their hatred of Republicans.
You're forgetting the basics of environmentalism -which you think you believe in no doubt. Resources are limited. I'm sure they are coming here because where they come from is a shit hole. The challenge is not to bring them here, it's to keep them out. Or do you prefer them to White Americans? We both know the answer to that. What a traitor you are.
Pepy's Diary - The Plague; The Great London Fire ... The movie "Restoration" covers about the same period. Ditto the novel "Forever Amber."
"Restoration" is really good. Robert Downey Jr. Glad to see that guy apparently has finally got his act together. Great actor.
Any-who. A young doctor is summoned to the court of Charles II. He's sooo excited! He gets to be the King's physician! No such luck. The King wants him to be the doctor to the royal spaniels. Oh, and provide cover so he can cavort about with married women. Worth a look.
Turkle the Free Marketeer! Turkle the little commie clown who just can't think.
What the hell are you talking about?
I didn't deny that white people were farmworkers, you twit.
I said that the lie that there were jobs that Americans won't do is a corporate media lie, designed to support immigration. And that the ruling class supports immigration because they want cheap labor.
How could you possibly twist that?
My uncle in Oregon tried to talk my Dad into sending me there to pick strawberries when I was 10 years old. My Dad refused.
I grew up with Oakies.
I still know white farmworkers. A couple of weeks ago, one of them, a blue-eyed blond guy who is illiterate enough not to be able to sign his name, told me that TV news was lying to him about killing Osama Bin Laden.
Well. Here's what I thought. You may be illiterate, but you're not stupid.
You, on the other hand, are literate, but not enough to be able to comprehend what you read.
Vlad, to borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, "I don't see colour".
People are people, whatever shade of skin they have. And why do you want to keep immigrants, and not-Whites, out of the USA? Wasn't there something in your Constitution about everybody being equal? And weren't you all immigrants too? I'm sure any native North American (that's redskins to you)would say you are immigrants and I have to agree.
It's one world, baby, and we share it with everyone else. If the New World Order that you're so scared of includes that principle, then bring it on. We'll all be better off when we have melted down into some shade of brown and can't use that excuse to hate each other anymore.
While I am a little put off by the culture of tattoos in America (what's with the baby portrait tattoos and kids names tatted on necks with their birth dates?), I will say that law enforcement and or firefighters may have served in the military. Being a former Marine, I can tell you that in the Corps most young jarheads wanted to get the eagle/globe/anchor tattoo as soon as they were out of SOI (School of Infantry - 90's). Amoung Marine infantry tats are pretty popular. I would guess, that this tradition was passed on to Marines from sailors, since it appears sailors were fond of tattoos.
I will pull this gem from my archive of (Kunstler) favorites when some future occasion calls for an anti-tattoo screed.
Simmer down, this is a discussion (I hope), not a brawl. I'll own that I don't always interpret others' meaning, so sometimes require a restating.
Addressing the topic in general, some here don't seem to realize that the words "sovereignty" and "citizen" are exclusionary by defintion. Especially so in the case of democratic process by which a "more perfect union" of people hope to direct their "common wealth" destiny through elected representation. That goes directy to threats "from within" and "from without". Foreign nationals disregarding our immmigration laws is invasion -- a forced redirecting of the national destiny intended by the drafting of those laws.
National sovereignty is under attack by global corporations, and not just with cheap immigrant labor.
Witness the attack on Libya, illegal under international law.
It is justified by "humanitarian intervention", a new concept, invented by the US to justify its attack on Yugoslavia in the 90s, a country that was resisting neo-liberal reforms after the breakup of the USSR and the US attempt to corner the riches of those countries formerly denied to them.
Global corporations have no national loyalties and
obey no laws made by mere elected representatives. They are the biggest threat to humankind. Illegal immigration is only a symptom of the malady.
A memory from childhood indelibly etched in my memory-
My Mom told me in a normal voice that two of our neighboring families were Okies.
Then she lowered her voice (as if they could hear across the street) and told me that one of the families were "foot-washing Baptists, but we're not prejudiced".
Well, whatever foot-washing Baptists were, and no matter how liberal we were, I knew right there that there was something very wrong with that religion!
-on immigrants and the environment-
one word can make all the difference -
"The challenge is not to bring them here, it's to keep them out. Or do you prefer them to White Americans?"
-vlad, crashing the thread into unthinking racism, again -
"The challenge is not to bring them here, it's to keep them out. Or do you prefer them to African-
Americans?"
-vlad, with slight editing to make others think-
=============
black/black - brown/brown - white/white
week after freaking WEEK!
Vlad, if your goal is to make people harden up and fight against most everything you claim to stand for - you are doing a fine job.
Hello James I am an avid reader of your Monday morn musings. I love the way you describe these heavily tattooed, baggy, sullen folk that seem ever more prevalent. I live near Belleviile, On Ca. and every time I go there and walk the streets or take the bus I constantly encounter this phenomena! They seem to be very much a Canadian cultural aberration, trying to look even "badder " than the Americans! Spiderwebs on the neck et all and a unhealthy skin and yellow nicotine stained teeth. On top of that an affectation of a scowl or mean look .I will steer clear of upstate NY but its worse here!!
And speaking of Europe, and Greece Please check out MaxKeiser.com today
and Michael Hudson
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2011/06/replacing-economic-democracy-financial.html
The article in the current NY Review of Books by Marcia Angell titled "The Current Epidemic of Mental Illness" seems in my mind at least to be not unconnected with the contemporary tattooing craze. Now that is two comments in one day for me. I've reached my quota until next week.
-Phut.
"when we have melted down into some shade of brown and can't use that excuse to hate each other anymore."
-grouchyoldGirl-
When the above happens, Grouchy, we'll have plenty of excuses to hate each other already operational.
Witness:
Shia/Sunni
Bloods/Crips
Crackers/White Trash
Town/Gown
There's nothing wrong with miscegenation, necessarily, but it's not going to be the end of hate and the beginning of love forevermore.
Sometimes, it does seem that the American left thinks that if we can just get ENOUGH different races and creeds into the US - that the Age of Aquarius will dawn again -
I see evidence building that the opposite is going to happen, instead.
Every year I take a look at the NBA Finals, just to see if I can spot anything I might like about basketball. This year it is startling to see all the tattoos ...
=============
Not sure when the tatt thing really got rolling but by now it is near universal. It is inevitable though that in some future time (maybe soon) the idea of being a rebel will be expressed by NOT having even a single tattoo. I believe their are already one or two such players in the NBA ... possibly even three.
It amazes me these athletes don't see how sheep-like they actually are.
overpopulation is overpopulation no matter what the skin shade also. it just so happens is that those with dark skin are doing the most to contribute to over population in the united states at this time. my loathed lily white hands touch black skin every day and frankly it feels the same as white or brown skin. i just want a country for my kids and grandkids that is relatively safe, clean ,comfortable, and uncrowded . i dont blame them for wanting to come here or beautiful canada but do we want to turn our countries into shitholes like theirs. why is that so good and noble.
You put your finger right on what makes the tatoo fad such an indicator of increasing barbarity in American life.
It's permanent. In my own hippie youth, we dyed our hair purple and walked around in sheer blouses with no bras, and painted fake flower tattoos on our hands, but we did all this with the idea that it would be very transient.
Someone once remarked that you could measure a person's intelligence or the degree of advancement of a civilization by its time frames. The further the time horizon, the more advanced the mind... or society.The willingness of people in the 20-45 yr old bracket to deface their bodies permanently bespeaks an inability to project the future, which is the hallmark of an undeveloped mind and a primitive civilization. People who can't project the future well enough to figure that they might one day want to work somewhere besides a car wash or fast food kitchen will not have the vision it takes to project the end results of our current choices, or conceive of a society that works on very different terms than the one we live in now.
LOL. Which is why I think Jim let's Vlad stick around. To remind us there are people like him out there. Sigh. Our very own little Neo-Nazi.
Jimbo...I chuckle at your constantly bemoaning the "tattoo culture", and then I read about football coach Jim Tressel's firing at Ohio State in part as a result of some of his players trading football memorabilia fot tats. Ah, yes, student athletes indeed! If you're so insecure that you've got to get your body pierced to stand out from the crowd, I feel sorry for you. A tattoo is nothing more than a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.
Two things about your post are going to get you in trouble with the Global Village/America Can't Be a Lifeboat crowd.
One is:
uncrowded - someone is going to tell you that New York has to reach the population density of New Dehli or Tokyo, otherwise Americans are "being selfish."
Of course these people need to realize that without fossil fuel/fertilizer/technology - that the world INCLUDING the US, is already drastically overpopulated and likely heading for a global population crash.
second thing:
your use of the term "shitholes" - is going to make some people so angry that thinking flies out the window for them?
There is a magical belief that simply ENTERING INTO the US will turn an underprivileged, uneducated immigrant with no assets into an up-and-coming member of the Elite American Entrepreneurial Class.
This is a lie.
But, even if true, the last thing we need in the States are more members of the Overprivileged Elite American Entrepreneurial Class - burning through the rest of the Planet's resources at an increasing rate.
I think I live in the third-most "inked" city in America.
Does that mean we will suffer more when it all goes down? I better get another tat to keep up the scare-factor.
If the founders gave right wing CABALs the right to stage a coup de etat then why is it that conspirators caught doing that can be tried for treason? On the other hand a widespread popular uprising which achieved critical mass as a revolution which eventually proved victorious would be different in that the victors get to make the rules.
The notion that FDR moved the pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor for the express purpose of setting them up for a Japanese air raid is absurd not to mention unprovable. Such a conspiracy would require that Roosevelt was conspiring with the Japanese themselves, which is so completely beyond the pale as to border on psychosis. This also ignores the reality that the navy was Roosevelt's favorite department of the government, his having served as Ass't Sec. of the Navy during WWI. He and Churchill, twice First Lord of the Admiralty in the UK used to refer to each other in cables as "former naval person".
quote from a jimmy buffet song 'permanent reminder of a temporary feeling'
When I was a sailor I once considered getting a tattoo of an anchor at a tattoo parlor in Newport, RI. When I realized how much the artist wanted for this simple tattoo, or $75 in 1980, I declined because I considered that to be an outrageous waste of good drinking money! After all, you've got to have your priorities straight.
you are right on both counts. i can change my usage from shitholes to hopeless quagmires. but i'm afraid changing peoples minds about what constitutes selfishness vs. common sense is a lot harder.
So the stock market is down again today, trouble in Europe continues and the american economy is in a free-fall...as one would predict, CNBC cuts in to the press conference on weinergate?
I live in a twin-city area with a combined population of 23,000. We have 6 Tattoo parlors. A group of "Christian" businessmen buy old buildings and when they re-sell them (usually to family members within the group) there is a ridder in the contract that the business cannot be a tattoo parlor or beer tavern.
The medical marijuana dispensary flew in under the radar, but only lasted a week or two before the sheriff's raid. The indoor grow store seems to be doing a land office business.
No, the fleet was already there silly. He cut off their oil supply, and then ignored their rage - and the warning signs as their fleet approached Hawaii.
Jefferson said we have the right to abolish goverments that no longer serve us - just as they did. Of course the goverment in question isn't going to just give in. Obviously we aren't the men our Fore Fathers were. If they had been like us, there never would have been a revolution at all.
That's the kind of Neo Puritan Idealism that's killing us. It's just untilateral surrender since the other races don't feel that way at all. That's obvious to anyone who has been around them - and listened and observed. You either live in an Ivory Tower or an all White Suburb.
The Mexicans strictly enforce their borders against other Central Americans. India has built a wall to keep out the Bengladeshis. Ask an East Asian how they see Blacks - it will be an education.
You're right Prog - it's bad for Black Americans too. The People know but their politicians follow the Democratic Lead. There already is low grade ethnic warfare between the two groups - with the Blacks getting the worst of it in general.
And the White/Black situation is going downhill rapidly. The influential Drudge Report is now reporting the daily Black attacks on Whites - all suppresed by the Mainstream Media. The new and growing trend is Black Flash mobs. The flash mob began as as bohemians just having fun. But Blacks picked up on the idea and use technology to organize this kind of terror.
Yes we have to harden up. And it starts in the mind. People who have never lived or worked with Blacks only know what the lying Media tells them. This puts them in danger.
"History, that coy dominatrix, loves to trick the credulous human race." You've hit the target perfectly once again JHK. The price of gas is plummeting here in the Motor City as we speak and no one can figure out why. Was it the death of Bin Laden, a tanking world economy or have too many people had to decide between keeping the old beater on the road or feeding the family? Either way, I can't believe the profusion of bicycles in the Motor City. Folks who not too long ago would have been driving Ford Escorts and Plymouth Reliants to the grocery store are now riding beat-up old bicyles that wouldn't look out of place in India everywhere.
[blockquote]"In a moment when something we call "democracy" seems to be spreading through the dodgy precincts of the world like a contagion of virtue, the trend is actually going the other way in countries that have practiced it for a while."[/blockquote]
I can never remember which tags work where.
I thought you didn't read either my posts - or the responses to my posts. What a litte liar. You are really into the whole brittle purity trip. No doubt old ladies your own age think you are a good boy.
Well unfortunately "democracy" can be derailed pretty easily if their are no citizens, just herds of consumers.
I mean "there" are no citizens.
So far two things have been discovered by mankind, the wheel and "fire." In the use of one - he's used up most of the fuel for the other.
It might be connected somehow to guys wearing wife beater t shirts. It's non newtonian, the physics of synchronicity.
I got mine - and I'm gonna wear it in my new ricksaw business. Wealthy Blacks like to see Whites dressing down with tats too. I may have to take the plunge and go under the needle. I will hate myself and break mirrors with my fist. A man must eat or he will have no reflection.
Has there ever existed a civilization that flourished on one given resource that successfully transitioned to another?
This is a lie. !!!!!!
And each 'wave' [hitting / sinking the US lifeboat] makes it harder for the last wave of migrants to
Keep their jobs [new migrants are use to working for cheaper]
Have a decent place to live
[migrants usually live in slums in oh, Mc Arthur park ..yes the MAP from Donna Summers song]
Get an education [ in public schools in poor areas that may already be full up...etcetcetc
Migrants impact on all of us...especially on those in the areas they live, logiaclly enough,
and on those who they compete for 'cash' and minimum wage jobs.
Grouchy ol Girl earned a new 'handle' [Ima Fool}.
Tattoo 'artists' can charge 1000s of dollars
for a work of art!
What can Americans learn from the rioting in the mid-east? Could any techniques used there have success here?
Do American policy makers study autocratic regimes to learn civil/martial law population control techniques?
'As for social services, thanks to so called "welfare reform" they hardly exist anymore'
Gawd yr an idiot!
1 in 7 is on foodstamps and Ss 'dont exist'!
Is America unique in its population's apparent totally porcine and slovenly behaviors? Does any other population come close approximating the ignorance and complacency of the American electorate?
Do the Swiss watch "Dancing with the Stars?
"Tattoo 'artists' can charge 1000s of dollars
for a work of art!"
Good grief. I gotta tell my guy--$75 to get it and $40 to re-ink it 10 years later.
Maybe he's a poser :)
'I can always spot Americans amongst the many tourists even before I hear them. They are by far the largest, and the loudest'
Actually Belgians are the tallest, you may be meaning fattest, which might or might not be true.
What i have found is...'the loudest'
EASILY BLACKS, AMERICAN OR NOT!!!
Ive heard conversations from a city block away
their normal talking level is shouting or close to it.
French and Italians are smaller, which may account for lack of volume on their part.
Is what Wiener did so bad? It was just Twitter Sex. As man evolves, cyber life becomes more real than the physical. He may be a Cultural Revolutionary - marriages may stay physically chaste (at least as an ideal) but cybernetically promiscuous.
The U.S. pacific fleet had to be moved to Pearl Harbor from its regular base in San Diego. In terms of the silliness of my statement here I was stationed at Pearl Harbor for two years and am familiar with all the lore including having read the best selling books on the subject.
There is simply no way that Roosevelt could've conspired with the Japanese to have them attack Pearl Harbor. The attack was unexpected owing to its audacity. The Japanese fleet managed to cross the north pacific without being detected. The reason the Japanese navy was so good at that point was because it was originally trained by the British. The Japs had such high regard for British sailors that they dropped a wreath on the site where they sank the HMS Prince of Wales off of Singapore.
True, Roosevelt's actions towards the Japanese were provocative, but considering what the Japs were doing in China there was no reason to make any attempt to appease them at that point. The Japs also attacked everyone else with colonies in the far east including the French, British, and Dutch.
The Japanese attack was so audacious that only a couple of visionaries foresaw it, General Billy Mitchell among them. Mitchell was court martialed because his views on air power were considered outlandish by old fashioned officers in both the army and the navy. Mitchell then was subsequently awarded the medal of honor once his theories were vindicated since he'd sacrified his career to advocate for increased awareness of air power.
Roosevelt and others expected the Japanese to attack elsewhere. To purposely expose the pacific fleet to such an attack would've been suicidal but fortunately the Japanese did not press their advantage and withdrew after the initial waves of attack.
Vlad, you may need to come with your own Warning Label.
Here's what I said concerning your turning virtually every issue into a black/brown/white fear fight:
"Vlad, if your goal is to make people harden up and fight against most everything you claim to stand for - you are doing a fine job."
-me, to Vlad-
Here's how you responded:
"Yes we have to harden up. And it starts in the mind. People who have never lived or worked with Blacks only know what the lying Media tells them. This puts them in danger."
-vlad, twisting my words beyond recognition-
Calm down, Vlad - you appear to be so obsessed by your own fear, that you are impeding honest dialog.
And I wouldn't mind so much - except there are far bigger issues in the US and in the World, and you don't have a right to singlehandedly drag the CFN thread off onto racism - yet again- on an otherwise productive Monday.
OMG, when will we see the end of the romanticized notion of “noble savage”? Within the current milieu of political banter there are strains of such romantic thinking, expressed as belief that America needs a redemption that can only be realized through absorbing unlimited numbers of people still dragging with them beliefs and understandings hardly removed from the Bronze Age. Darker skin, of course, has been accepted by such thinkers as index of degree of “noble savage”.
I guess this is the new "American Exceptionalism" -- not that of which JHK addressed. Smacks too of condescension toward our darker members of the human family – which, important to note against backdrop of world affairs, show no less capacity for savagery in contesting one another than do…..uh, us white folks up here in the Northern Hemisphere.
What kind of tattoos do "you" have? Can reccomend anybody? My dancing girl needs a touch up. She's begining to look naked and I'm embarrased to be seen with her.
I didn't say He conspired with them, just that He maneuvered them into a corner so the would attack - and give Roosevelt and the nascent New World Order the entrance into the war that they so desperately desired. With every war they get stronger. Even orthodox historians confirm Roosevelt's long term goal - even though he campaigned to keep us out of the war as Wilson had a generation before.
It was their 9/11. In WW1 there was the Lusitania - ostensibly a passenger ship but secretly loaded to the gills with armaments. The German Goverment caught wind of the plan and took out ads in American Newspapers warning Americans not to travel on the Lusitania. The Newspapers refused to run the ads and the ship sailed right into the wolf pack. The ship blew up like the 4th of Ju-ly according to witnesses. Recent excavations of the drowned ship confirm the German version against the Anglo liars.
You've hit the nail on the head. And Blacks being the darkest are the most noble of all. They have replaced Christ as the object to be worshiped by all faux Christians.
Fine, Vlad,
It looked like a bad underwear ad, but...
But why are these guys so utterly unprepared for the public exposure, as it were?
They lie themselves into a corner, ruining their credibility way more than the original act itself.
Did Wiener really think this was just between himself and the girl he sent the picture to?
Not very technical savvy if you ask me.---And much ado about nothing, but the fact that these guys keep thinking their actions will never see the light of day.
I guess the bread and circus will continue--As you know, there's no other news of the day.
ah the end of empire is a sad thing to witness.
___________
On another note, I think Fareed Zacharia's special last night on innovation was something to watch. Try and watch it if it's on again or on streaming video.
Best not to speak ill of those Adirondack mutts, James, lest you risk alienating most of your readership.
Each progressive wave of immigrants further dilutes the remaining cultural capital of America. These people aren't going to assimilate to the norms of a dying people who don't have the commonsense to maintain their borders and their language. It's like that old gag from Groucho Marx: I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member. That's how the immigrants feel - minus the implied inferiority complex of course. Whites simply can't grok how much these people love themselves. We've lost that completely. How do you expect Whites to survive hating themselves as they do? And how can such self haters assimilate anyone or even want to?
Answer: they can't and they don't - not the
Grouchy Old Girls anyway. Cash wants to of course, but my first point explains why that wont work. People don't respect the kind of softness that we have extended to them. And the sheer numbers and rate make it impossible as well.
Old saying said different ways in European Literature: Whom the Gods wish to kill they first drive mad. That's where we are. And I have been driven mad trying to wake up those who refuse to wake up.
Yeah the technology has run far ahead of both the social norms and the public's understanding of its capability.
Also amusing: typically women have absolutely no interest in seeing this kind of thing. Heterosexual men project their own trip onto women. So much for the sophistication of some of our politicians.
"What were his tatoos?"
I really can't remember. They seemed to be overlapping or even layered. Too many to sort out.
"I grew up with Oakies."
IR1, we ain't named after trees.
I think the public gets it. It's politicians who are clueless. They keep flying into the fire, though.
Their protestations when caught are fodder for the news--man they just can't stop themselves.
Pathetic!
Okay, I can go along with your clarification. For instance there is no doubt that FDR violated the neutrality act in spirit if not in letter with many of the actions he took in the Atlantic in which we were involved in an undeclared naval war against the Germans, sent the British 50 WWI mothball fleet destroyers, and even had an American naval aviator working with the British tracking the Bismark.
Your comments also see things in a sinister light but without making unbelievable assertions. The fact is there does exist an Anglo- American conspiracy. One of the prime movers in this conspiracy during its infancy was Cecil Rhodes, founder of the scholarships to Oxford and South African diamond tycoon who was instrumental in starting the Boer War at the end of the 19th century.
Last week it was Palin in leather. This week
a "coy dominatrix." Jimmy, what gives?
I believe it was Newfie who had the best post last week.. Heil Titler
I am very concerned about the future. I will be spending the rest of my life there...
The best handle on the site... NECKFLAMES!
Five years in the Navy, Two in the Army, never got a Tattoo. My Dad didn't have one either, after combat service in WW11 & Korea. Now every pissant and loser at the local Community College and fast food restaurant is covered up with them. Shaved heads, skin piercings, Ubangi earrings, Tattoos everywhere ... you're right, Jim, what a bunch of f----g mutts!
-Marlin
Traveled through central New York over the Mem Holiday. While passing through the little hamlets and villages, I observed the most curious thing. While the settlement pattern was evidenced by good clustering of building types, the municipal offices were not there. Signs directed you to a ancillary road that took you out into the the cultivated fields somewhere. Bizarre! Why remove them from the center?
Marlin,
Try not to be so judgmental.
lately the Chinese visitors look more like bargain-hunters at the preview of an estate auction, sizing up the merchandise
How long will it take for JHK to read about the massive energy crisis hitting China?
I tweet about it all the time now @babystrangeloop
Boy, some things sure don't change. Like CFN. Jim writes something, the first posts are like "Another great blah blah", the next posts are "I hate you and the blog you write on!" Then Vlad crawls out of his cave and drags the whole thing further down into the mud & crap, closely followed by LuLu, or LaLa, or whatever they go by now.
Same goes for the USA. Got back to the new home a few weeks back from a visit up there, boy, its scary to see the denial & insanity up close. Almost everyone there lives in some kind of delusion. Its unbelievable.
To Jackie Blue & others thinking of getting out: JUST DO IT! to copy an ad slogan. But really, if you don't do it soon, you may never be able to leave. Its getting pretty bad there. One almost thinks that the whole 'Tat' thing is an unconscious acknowledgment of the prison state you are living in. If you can recall, not all that long ago the only people that had massive Tats were those on the Outside of the culture: Ex-cons, gang members, bikers, etc. So perhaps all those 'Tat-ed' freaks that Jim is so scared of are really just stating out in the open for all to see that they realize they are living in a Coast to Coast open-air prison.
Or not, perhaps they are really just trend following idiots.
But as I said above to Jackie & others, if you can, get out now before its too late.
Down here there are so many mangoes falling from the trees they just lay there and rot, filling the air in some parts with the scent of fermenting mangoes, which some of the birds seem to like quite a lot. I can buy a bolsa of 4-5 nice big mangos for about $1.40.
So just Do It! while the Doing it is good, and leave the rusting scrap heap that was the USA to toads like Vlad.
Over & out, DJ :)
Try not to be so judgmental.
===============
Jammer,
Following are 10 guesses about Americans with tattoos for which I have absolutely no proof but I toss them out on the table as a starting point for discussion (maybe Asoka can locate data to confirm or refute):
1. Employed people (both men and women) with 2 or more visible tattoos on the face, neck, head, arms, hands, and/or legs earn 25% to 50% less on average than non-tattooed people.
2. Non-tattooed people have significantly higher levels of education.
3. Unemployment is much higher among tattooed people.
4. Percentage wise, far more tattooed people have served jail time than non-tattooed.
5. There are more illegitimate children born to tattooed women over 17 years old.
6. Alcohol and drug abuse is more prevalent among tattooed people.
7. IQs of tattooed people are 15 or more points lower than non-tattooed people.
8. There are no tattooed Nobel prize recipients.
9. There are no non-tattooed motorcycle mechanics in the US.
10. Tattooed people are far more likely to shoot pool than play golf.
The Traditional America of Norman Rockwell or the Liberal America that put a man on the Moon - both were White Americas. The Multi-Cultural, Multi-Racial paradise that you propose never existed and never can exist.
Why didn't you move to Haiti or Jamaica? Because they are Black and full of violence and ignorance. You went to Latin America - where Whites are valued and the people on top value their European genes and culture.
Gaia is angry.
This is where my worries come from these days. I'm no longer concerned about making do without the formal economy. I've made it through another 102 degree day without air conditioning. Actually I worked right through it in the garden without even thinking about it. A cool shower and a pair of stout margaritas with a dynamite chili relleno, and 102 never happened. We have a Jersey cow who provides us with enough high quality calories that we could probably live without any other "income." Our total bills were $161 this month, and heading south.
But it's the stuff you don't see coming, even after all the preparations, all the resilience planning, that can proper fuck you. While we were out toasting our foresight, a wicked front blew in led by an insane wind pattern. It was enough to make my wife and daughter and I notice over the din of soccer, chalupas, and business people trying to convince themselves that a gross increase in sales can only mean good things, to stand up and look out the window over our heads and see the road signs in the area twisting and tossing back and forth, with waves of dust blowing through town.
It was bad in town, but apparently worse at the farm. When we retrieved the baby from my grandparents' house and arrived at Small Batch Garden, all the summer squash were laying sideways in their beds showing their flower buds and small fruits above the leaves. The new bed I had built today in the heat and mulched with a thick layer of hay was everywhere. Then I noticed the peppers. I was horrified. All but two of them were laying on their sides with no apparent hope of recovering. I rushed over to check, and sure enough they were snapped off clean at the ground. Was it a microburst? They were loaded with young fruits that would now never mature. I'll salvage what I can in the morning, I thought. The ducks were completely freaked out, and let us in on their disapproval of the situation right away. Who knows if everyone else is in the right place and secure, let alone dry.
That was one benefit of the storm tonight. We did get some rain. Not sure how much, but the ground felt alive under my bare feet as I moved about checking for any further damage. The first time since February it felt like that. It was a comforting feeling. But the uncertainty in my stomach gave me away. How can we prepare for an unpredictable climate when even the basics of self-reliance are mostly beyond our knowledge base? I guess I know now that a stake and tie are worthy time expenditures for my peppers, and by extension the similar crops that didn't get laid down, like eggplants, and perhaps even okra. That's a lot of extra effort and materials, but in a life or death situation it would be a no-brainer.
Good thing I already have bamboo in place and growing, but I wasn't using it, and what's next? What will Nature throw at the prepared to derail their preparations next? It's as if the demise of the masses is a foregone conclusion, and Gaia is just trying to finish off the ones who get it too, just for good measure.
Friends of CFN, it's not enough to know how to grow food without fossil energy subsidies. We really need the wisdom of experience to make it through. If the crash is ten years out still, spend that time getting to know the ins and outs of food, fiber, and fuel production. Because at this point I can promise there will be new and deadly lessons to learn every year. At least that's been my experience so far.
Just passing along what I'm seeing for those who care...
DJ, so good to see you here again and read your words.
Since you last wrote I have bought land in South America (in the remote Andean Mountains). Fertile soil, beautiful people (I'm fluent in Spanish) and perfect weather.
In my future back yard I have mangos, papaya, bananas, plantain, mandarin oranges, etc. etc. etc. etc. and the stuff grows year round because I'm near the equator and the temperature is in the 70's year round ("clima templado" ellos dicen)
I'm saving up to make the move but it may take a couple of years to make the break.
Oh, fringe benefit, my new South American country (which I am not going to name) has universal single payer national health care. The third world can manage it, but the USA cannot.
Gracias por empujarme a salir de los EEUU. Poco a poco. Ya casi.
Saludos y felicitaciones,
Asoka
What they now call MacAuthur Park is really Westlake Park. A beautiful park, a jewel of Los Angeles.
There were immigrants there even when I was a kid.
I remember going to a Bulgarian(?) restaurant a couple of blocks away from Westlake Park.
It was a house, but they had set up the living room with tables to feed people.
Now that I think about it, it was probably illegal.
Yes it may not have been all bad in the begining. They wanted to promote Anglo Saxon culture as epitomized by Tennyson's poem Locksley Hall. I don't agree with pressing it on the whole world but at least such a thing was not monstrous in its conception. Now though they have joined forces with the Jews and are doing all they can to suppress Whites and White culture. I'm reminded of Jim Jones: he did great work in the begining. And even Sauron the Great was once beautiful.
Question to your expertise: Is there an equivalent to Cornelius A Lapide as a Commentatator on the Old Testament? He is usually thought to be the greatest Commentator on the New Testament - is there an equivalent Commmentator and Commentary on the Old? Or did the Catholic Church never delve so deeply into these waters?
Yeah, that's the downside to farming.
Locusts, storms, drought, it all sucks.
4 years ago, we had a very warm January followed by a cold February, followed by a warm April.
Everything bloomed and budded. Everything sprouted.
Then we had a hard freeze in April. April!
Not one piece of fruit that year, and the wheat was a goner too.
With global warming, this could happen again, and next time there probably won't be fruit shipped from Chile to make up for it.
Nothing can beat the knowledge born of experience. Remember in Diamond's book: the experts told the New Guineans to plant in horizontal rows against erosion on the slope. But their way was better - the furious rain run off washed the expert's seedlings away. There was alot of knowledge like that.
America has become a nation of self loathing, sub-literates, whose only goals are to make it home for Cheez Curls and a night of mindless television.
The US has become the fattest nation out of all the industrialized nations. They are fat, and self-hating. Their unconscious must realize that their lives are stuck in dead end ruts filled with road blocks.
Walmart has become the prison store, and the shoppers are the prisoners. Walmart has sold Americans out for cheap labor in China. They have shut the jobs down in America forcing the average America to take jobs at lower pay, if they can find work.
Many Americas don't feel they are worthy enough to rise up and fight back like those in Greece, and elsewhere are doing; so instead, they get another tattoo.
http://moontownshippa.blogspot.com
Recently the Bulgarian Prime Minister in a TV interview urged people to grow potatoes. Interesting. What would happen if Obama tells this to the Americans? On the other hand the same PM is proud that currently a lot of highway build-up is underway.
And according to Wikileaks it is even more interesting - http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=128625 .
Well at least the Bulgarian debt is maybe 10 or 15 times lower than Greek. Yet live in Greece is much better, for now.
4 years ago, we had a very warm January followed by a cold February, followed by a warm April.
================
...We had no March that year.
"And what can you say about a people who slather mayonnaise on their French fries - apart from their amazing failure to discover the miracle of ketchup, despite being overrun by American GIs sixty-odd years ago - and speaking a language that nobody has ever written rock and roll song in."
Having spent some time in this country I can honestly say that I understand their aversion to ketchup. The French-speaking half of course cater to culinary pretensions, so ketchup being the abomination of the American public is not even considered as an accoutrement to any food item, even the lowly frites. And you have never had mayonnaise as they possess: fresh from the farm and then roasted in the hot noonday sun. Quelle délicieux.
Word of the day: Decoupaged. Decoupage can turn any boring object into something fun!
"and speaking a language that nobody has ever written rock and roll song in."
Believe me. Any song written and sung in Flemish would neither rock nor roll.
"and a more frightening gaggle of disfigured mutts I have never seen before."
You've never seen the gathering at the annual State of the Union address?
"Has everybody in upstate New York only just been released from prison?"
Probably. So now there's a few vacancies for the other throng alluded to above.
Asoka are you accepting donations to your emigration fund.
I decided to grow potatoes this year.
I planted quite a few, spending much time digging out land against the curve of the land, making swales to retain water.
Then we had 2 feet of rain in 10 days.
I tried digging drainage ditches from the potatoes, but the water didn't want to drain.
One day I baled 8 buckets of water out of the potato patch, with a cup and bucket.
Now we're having a drought.
"At least Elizabeth Pepys appears to have had no visible tatoos on her upper body."
You got me thinking. I wonder if the Queen has a tattoo of the Union Jack where she sits?
"I am applying for a passport soon. Getting things in order. In case I want to make a break."
Just got mine this week. Planning on going out of country next year to scout out possible Plan B.
Any song written and sung in Flemish would neither rock nor roll.
=============
Listen for yourself ... not bad for a ...
FLEMISH ROCK GROUP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIriiIQMAU&feature=related
Sounds like Straight-Line Wind.
http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/406/
Sorry about the peppers, but at least the cows o.k.. I think I had a little dust up with a micro-burst one time. I had a little patch of miniature corn. It was kind of an experiment. The stuff isn't all that useful .. but I just wanted to see if I could grow it. It's what I always head for at the local salad bar.
I was coming along quit nicely. 4 - 6 cute little cobs on each stock. We had some weather and I came home to find it squashed flat. As if someone had stepped on it. It was weird. Everything else was fine. I pounded in some of those metal fence posts, propped it all up and through a cord around it. Gave it a good water. Saved most of it.
Now, you DO have that storm cellar I keep asking about (and you keep ignoring that I ask about.) Did I mention I have occasional flashes of precognition?
Asoka are you accepting donations to your emigration fund.
------------
You are so very kind to offer. Your people were also so kind to bring my ancestors here ... so I feel like Whites have done quite enough already.
I will feel so much better if I pay my own way out of this plantation prison.
Okay there's this new trend among the facially tattooed... the big gauge ear "piercing"... have you seen this? What they do is stretch out their ears to look like Mr Rumbold in "Are you being served?"
They don't look scary anymore... they look pitiful... what says "I don't expect to get job opportunities" better than a tattooed face and stretched out jug ears.
PLEASE NOTE:
FACEBOOK.COM HOT POTHOLES
"I wonder if the Queen has a tattoo of a Union Jack where she sits."
Probably not. But that's just wild speculation on my part :-) .
Several of the royal males have / had tattoos. Especially the one's who served in the Royal Navy. Something discreet that doesn't how when in dress uniform.
Believe me. Any song written and sung in Flemish would neither rock nor roll.
-----------
I am a fairly educated person yet somehow I have remained all my 70 years unaware that there is a European country named Flem.
ITS RUINED NOW!!!
Too many Immigrants from the wrong places.
Gangs run it.............MS / 18th st
90% immigrants or anchor baby generation.
Protests when a dangerous drunken wetback is shot...
Commission: Officer Acted Properly In Fatal Shooting Near ...
Mar 15, 2011 ... A Los Angeles police officer acted within department policy when he shot and killed a Guatemalan immigrant near MacArthur Park, the city Police Commission ruled today, prompting angry responses from the man's relatives and activists who claim deadly force was unwarranted.
ACTIVISTS, YEAH.
Jims bike ride pictures were great. we like to travel to the north east when we can. We don't find the small towns nearly as depressing as jhk does. A great combination of scenery, history and civilization compared to the south or west. Southerns are likely to think people up north are not friendly. We have always found that it is just the opposite. Jhk is right about the change in society, the tats are just a manifestation of societal degradation.
Ditto on the tattoo thing. Only time I thought of getting one was after a long night of drinking and then I never got so drunk I couldn't ask myself, "what will it look like when I'm sober?" In my growing up days, the only GUYS (and only guys) who had tattoos were ex-military, and then it was only a small service branch tattoo to show they had been there and done that. And most of them looked scary to me, as JHK mentioned.
But the law clearly says: "You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the LORD."
I think the tattoo trend today is just another expression of the lawlessness that exists in society.
"FLEMISH ROCK GROUP"
Rock? Ah, well more like a cabaret version of Flock of Seagulls. But not bad, lol.
BTW. Good luck to you and DJ gettin outa here. If rich Israelis are buying up all the land they can in Patagonia, there must be something down there besides gauchos and llamas. Maybe llama meat is kosher?
Went to a birthday party at Dufferin Grove Park over the weekend, was for my friend's kid. At one point, I walked over to a woman who was busy throwing one of our party's soccer balls in the air, apparently trying to entertain some of her kids. Before I could say anything, she goes:
"Oh, is this ball yours?"
"No", I say, "It belongs to one of the boys who's about to go home." And I say this with as nice a smile as I can muster for the enormous/ugly/tattooed woman.
"Well," she says. "Looks like it's game over for us." Not a smile, not a thank you, nothing.
Then I look at her party, and it's nothing but enormous and/or ugly tattooed women and their rather depressed looking kids. Had to be at least six adults and six kids, not one fucking ball, hot Sunday in the park. Plenty of tats, though.
To all US citizens departing for countries where the grass appears to be greener, I recommend you carefully research the laws about drawing Social Security checks, pensions, and taking IRA and 401K distributions. The financial implications can be onerous. I read something a year or two ago that made it sound like the US was in certain respects like a Roach Motel, where you can check in but you can't check out.
Where I'm going there is not a single tattoo to be found anywhere. Just fresh air, water, and people who work the earth and love the earth. And I'll be able to walk out and harvest the avocados for free.
Sounds like paradise.
Thanks for the warning, Q. I have already visited and even in third world countries you can take a bus to a city or provincial capital, and guess what you find: ATM machines that work with debit cards from USA banks.
So. all I have to do is have my social security check direct deposited into my USA bank account.
Whenever I need money (which won't be often with such a low cost of living) I can withdraw local currency as easily as I withdraw dollars here.
Sure, there is an international transaction charge (though not too much), so I'll only be withdrawing once a month. But it works like a breeze. Perks of economic globalism.
When America falls, the Latin American economies will be ruined. Gringos, even Black ones, may not be welcome.
When America falls you will have many problems, the immigration won´t be one anymore.
But if you want to start again in another land I guess it would be very difficult to find a place where Americans are welcome, especially without money...
Conozco a la gente en el pais donde voy.
Confio en la existencia y no sufro de la paranoia que plaga a Ud.
The Flemish want their own Country but they are outnumbered by the French speaking Walloons. Their Nationalist Party, Vlams Blok was outlawed to prevent any bid for succesion. They are good people - loathe the EU, and the petty culture of French Bureacracy that is essential to it.
Puzzling it out - I know the people of the country where I'm going. I'm confident of my life and don't suffer from the paranoia that plagues you. That's not very nice.
Speak English so when I insult you, it will be accurate. I don't want to say anything bad that's not true.
I think our future lives will look a whole lot like the Amish lives of today and maybe we'll be a whole lot better off.
On a side note: the Amish (well at least my Amish farmer) produce(s) some really incredible food. Why? because they've spent years invested in the most valuable commodity of all: soil.
They may only educate their young to 8th grade, but I can tell you from reading an animal-share agreement written by them, they are not stupid hicks. (I doubt most college grads could have written it). The lack of TV, radio, and internet gives them a lot of time to continue to educate themselves.
Yo soy un introvertido en Inglés
Yo soy una persona extrovertida en español, una persona completamente diferente.
Ud. es racista. Piérdete.
"It's a darn shame, and I mean that literally, because this is exactly what the American public is so ashamed of, and why appeals to the repressed sense of shame based on hyper-patriotic bluster, are so successful."
A better and more succinct way of saying this is simply: The Face of Fascism.
This is where the foundation of fascism lays. And this is what we now have, a corporate-fascist state.
As for Europe, you will be very surprised how Europe rises quickly from what you perceive to be the abyss, into the King of the Western World. Watch for it, it's coming quickly. While the USA continues to sink into the quicksand of it's own making.
Sarah Palin is merely the epitome of what this country has become. It is, indeed, disgraceful and sad.
11. Tattooed people are far more likely to play golf than chess.
WOW! Palin was demoted from being Hitler to being just an elected official...a dull bureaucrat. WHat a difference a week makes. I generally like JHK and would not want him to go down that dark path of crazy leftists that see a Nazi in every nine year old holding up an anti-abortion placard.
I know JHK is far too proud to ever issue an apology...but I think this toning down is the closest he'll ever get to one.
You can think yourself into problems and out of problems, you can't think yourself into problems and you can't think yourself out of problems, etc. Thought is the problem, thought creates all kinds of fake problems, you just have to exist, no action and reaction, no feeling, no nothing, and all of your problems are solved, and in fact I prefer NOTHING from anything else, nothing is my friend, I prefer nothing. NOTHING is the answer. Isn't pyschoanalysis a method of trying "to think yourself out of problems" ? And the same way you think yourself into problems, just use the same path to think yourself out of problems (or any path will do, thought is just a path that thinks it is reaching targets and associates them to satisfaction, conclusions, feelings, whatever, but it is a process never reaching any (imaginary) target and never even starting or ending, just a process without any goal or any direction, a total failure and a clunker of a device: kill the device, KILL THOUGHT), after all just invert the direction, it is all just a sequence of symbols and meanings which are just denotations, abstractions, non existing. If thought creates the problem, then change thought. The structure of thought: modified minds will do away with thought, even though it seems so totalizing and the absolute reference system of all of our existence, but thought is just a one transistor circuit, a one bit universe: we need trillion bit universes and circuits.
Our mind creates problems because it creates targets, imaginary targets to reach, wants change, wants something different, but why want anything different ? Why assign something better or worse when reality is all the same, only how we are programmed creates the difference, but the program (how a configuration of Matter is associated to feelings, happiness or sadness, to achievement, to what others assign it as being and how they feel (although you can't ever really know or touch what they feel, and they may all be fake robots anyways, go figure)) is a quirk, arbitrary, is meaningless and has no value, only our hardwired pain/pleasure circuits give meanings to things, but that circuit is just a design, just one of a trillion possible designs: change the design and you have changed everything and can potentially achieve everything.
Think yourself into a new problem, and think yourself out of a problem. I prefer NOTHING.
"Now, you DO have that storm cellar I keep asking about (and you keep ignoring that I ask about.) Did I mention I have occasional flashes of precognition?"
I don't have one. Sorry I've ignored your question, but it just kept slipping through the cracks, and I'm probably a little embarrassed to be so ill-prepared on the matter. Not sure what we would do. There's a low cypress strand about 30 vertical feet below the house elevation nearby, which is as good a topo break as you'll find in south Georgia. We could hide out down there and probably get soaked with screaming children. If we saw a twister heading straight at the house in time to do so. I'm encouraged that the house is 90-ish years old and still in good shape, through all the tropical storms and sporadic tornadoes we get 'round here, but Mother Nature seems to be stepping up her extermination plans every year. A fair portion of my farming neighbors' "topsoil" is lying around on our floor and furniture, and gumming up the keyboard I'm typing on. As if this sandy shit really has an effect on fertility. Without the fossil fuel subsidy they aren't going to be growing much of anything in these fields.
But the upshot of that is that our regenerative methods are getting a lot of attention. The email interview I just did with the local paper is turning into a full-blown article in the annual special Agriculture insert that appears in several local papers here pretty soon. The reporter pushing this is warning us to get our media affairs in order before the coming storm of interest. Not sure my blog is front-line material in the religious south.
We'll work on violent storm preparations. In the meantime I need to go stake my remaining veggies and get some new ones started...dammit.
Reading the first line of Spider's lunacy above, which is about as much as I ever get through, I'm remembering a good quote I saw yesterday:
You can't think yourself into a new way of living, but you can live yourself into a new way of thinking.
I like that a lot.
Thanks for reminding me of that Diamond story about the New Guineans. I had forgotten about that. You know, because it's been a whole year since I read Guns, Germs, and Steel. Sheesh. If I could just remember everything I've already read I'd probably be in good shape!
I'm really trying to let the landscape be the textbook, but there is always so much cultural bias to overcome. That's why I spend so much energy trying to get people to grow their own food, while there is still a cushion for failure. And I'm so glad when people share their experiences with me too. Like Wage's March-less year. That'd put a kink in my garden schedule for sure.
"We could hide out down there and probably get soaked with screaming children."
Ouch! This sentence could probably use a comma after 'soaked'. Sort of an Eats, Shoots, and Leaves thing, isn't it?
From:
http://www.ilovephilosophy.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=175489
Uh, ooh spelling correction. Guess were the error was game again!
In the first paragraph of this thread.
"I am a bit like those ex-christians that believed, all of their lives in a kind of religion, a kind of objective, external reality, rules and models of reality shared and believed by everyone, or most, or anyways some kind of objective truth, rules that we should abide to, an aggregation and serialization of results (just like in religions, be good and you will be rewarded, etc.), but then discover it was all a lie, a huge deception, there is nothing only crap in people, outside of people and everywhere, no god exists, no nothing, the world is totally meaningless, has nothing to say to us and we have nothing to say to it, there is nothing that has to be communicated to us, no metaphysical or spiritual truth, no beauty, no value, a total void, zero, empty, undefined, barren, boring, no need for any communication, you simply live, life is a bitch, eat drink and be merry and then you die, end of story.
Only in my case I kind of believed in the Economy, the system, it progresses, Capitalism goes forward, it is for the better good, it defeated Communism, etc. Nothing further from the truth, no religion has ever been more false than this one.
Economy only exists in terms of people interacting and mostly fighting, it is a constantly unstable system and will be unstable forever, there is no aggregate value being produced, no lasting result only power struggles, some win, some lose, always changing and never really producing lasting collective results. Except in the form of technical advancements that optimize many processes and imply less labor needed, no matter what, this is probably the only real collective aggregated value being produce. We are producing "the end of labor" and "the end of labor needed" more than anything else, and this is in fact the great deception of Economy, as all of the economists want you to believe that it has rules that favor "society" or that well run economies generate "wealth for everyone and jobs" etc. "
on another note from:
http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/06/the-creeping-nausea-of-american-exceptionalism.html
Kunstler doesn't like tatoos, but that is just a "statement", someone wants to make a statement, wants to oppose something, but oppose especially a contrasting Will Power, another mind that is supposed to judge and be "critical" and contrast this. But the object generating the contrast is really not important, it is the fascination with the actual fact that Will Powers contrast that is interesting and always repeating, and the contrasting minds find interesting and obsessive and constantly intriguing: and the contrasting Will Powers will study and debate and analyze and all sorts of things over the object of the contrast, will be fascinated and studying this object, in this case the tatoos, forever, when the real fascination is only with the fact that contradictions exists, that we are always contradicting each other, and we are trying to study it away, we are trying to figure it out by studying the object of contention, when that is just a place holder, an excuse for that which really fascinates us forever and forces us to think and debate and contrast others: and namely that we are contradiction, fight, A against B, and this is Metaphysical in nature, cannot be thought away, cannot be analyzed away or studied or debated away, you can't think yourself out of the rigid prison of a universe that is contradictory in nature, where the real principle of the universe is the principle of contradiction, everything is itself and not itself simultaneously and not...
You can't think yourself out of problems no matter how hard you try. You can always think yourself out of any problem since all problems exist only within the reference system of thought itself (thought being a monolithic - totalizing slab). You can think yourself into all kinds of problems but you can't think yourself out of any problems. You can't think yourself into any problems, but you can think yourself out of all problems. How I love to contradict myself, now go on, contradict me, tell me I am wrong.
Uh, ooh, spelling error correction for "the spelling error correction" again (infinite recursion anyone ?).
Now, guess where the spelling error game was again, little Suzy and Ryan!
From:
http://www.ilovephilosophy.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=175489
Uh, ooh spelling correction. Guess where the error was game again!
In the first paragraph of this thread.
"I am a bit like those ex-christians that believed, all of their lives in a kind of religion, a kind of objective, external reality, rules and models of reality shared and believed by everyone, or most, or anyways some kind of objective truth, rules that we should abide to, an aggregation and serialization of results (just like in religions, be good and you will be rewarded, etc.), but then discover it was all a lie, a huge deception, there is nothing only crap in people, outside of people and everywhere, no god exists, no nothing, the world is totally meaningless, has nothing to say to us and we have nothing to say to it, there is nothing that has to be communicated to us, no metaphysical or spiritual truth, no beauty, no value, a total void, zero, empty, undefined, barren, boring, no need for any communication, you simply live, life is a bitch, eat drink and be merry and then you die, end of story.
Only in my case I kind of believed in the Economy, the system, it progresses, Capitalism goes forward, it is for the better good, it defeated Communism, etc. Nothing further from the truth, no religion has ever been more false than this one.
Economy only exists in terms of people interacting and mostly fighting, it is a constantly unstable system and will be unstable forever, there is no aggregate value being produced, no lasting result only power struggles, some win, some lose, always changing and never really producing lasting collective results. Except in the form of technical advancements that optimize many processes and imply less labor needed, no matter what, this is probably the only real collective aggregated value being produce. We are producing "the end of labor" and "the end of labor needed" more than anything else, and this is in fact the great deception of Economy, as all of the economists want you to believe that it has rules that favor "society" or that well run economies generate "wealth for everyone and jobs" etc. "
on another note from:
http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/06/the-creeping-nausea-of-american-exceptionalism.html
Kunstler doesn't like tatoos, but that is just a "statement", someone wants to make a statement, wants to oppose something, but oppose especially a contrasting Will Power, another mind that is supposed to judge and be "critical" and contrast this. But the object generating the contrast is really not important, it is the fascination with the actual fact that Will Powers contrast that is interesting and always repeating, and the contrasting minds find interesting and obsessive and constantly intriguing: and the contrasting Will Powers will study and debate and analyze and all sorts of things over the object of the contrast, will be fascinated and studying this object, in this case the tatoos, forever, when the real fascination is only with the fact that contradictions exists, that we are always contradicting each other, and we are trying to study it away, we are trying to figure it out by studying the object of contention, when that is just a place holder, an excuse for that which really fascinates us forever and forces us to think and debate and contrast others: and namely that we are contradiction, fight, A against B, and this is Metaphysical in nature, cannot be thought away, cannot be analyzed away or studied or debated away, you can't think yourself out of the rigid prison of a universe that is contradictory in nature, where the real principle of the universe is the principle of contradiction, everything is itself and not itself simultaneously and not...
You can't think yourself out of problems no matter how hard you try. You can always think yourself out of any problem since all problems exist only within the reference system of thought itself (thought being a monolithic - totalizing slab). You can think yourself into all kinds of problems but you can't think yourself out of any problems. You can't think yourself into any problems, but you can think yourself out of all problems. How I love to contradict myself, now go on, contradict me, tell me I am wrong.
I can just see Soak sitting around with his old school headphones on, listening to his new Rosetta Stone CD.
Donde esta la biblioteca?
I feel a strong urge to cut and paste a Wikipedia article over at CFN;)
Try not to be so judgmental.
===============
Jammer,
Following are 10 guesses about Americans with tattoos for which I have absolutely no proof but I toss them out on the table as a starting point for discussion (maybe Asoka can locate data to confirm or refute):
1. Employed people (both men and women) with 2 or more visible tattoos on the face, neck, head, arms, hands, and/or legs earn 25% to 50% less on average than non-tattooed people.
2. Non-tattooed people have significantly higher levels of education.
3. Unemployment is much higher among tattooed people.
4. Percentage wise, far more tattooed people have served jail time than non-tattooed.
5. There are more illegitimate children born to tattooed women over 17 years old.
6. Alcohol and drug abuse is more prevalent among tattooed people.
7. IQs of tattooed people are 15 or more points lower than non-tattooed people.
8. There are no tattooed Nobel prize recipients.
9. There are no non-tattooed motorcycle mechanics in the US.
10. Tattooed people are far more likely to shoot pool than play golf
Q,
I noticed your lack of scholarly references to your analysis. Maybe this relates to #2 or #7? You must be tattooed, yes? My daughter has a small literary quotation on the underside of her wrist. “I want I want”. Graduated Mount Holyoke College. Suma Cum Laude 2009. I would much rather shoot pool than play golf any day. Much cheaper. No tats on me.
"Then we had 2 feet of rain in 10 days.
I tried digging drainage ditches from the potatoes, but the water didn't want to drain.
One day I baled 8 buckets of water out of the potato patch, with a cup and bucket.
Now we're having a drought."
See what I mean? Gaia is pissed! My potatoes were so bad this season that I probably got back fewer than I planted! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for plenty of sweet potatoes. And my spaghetti squash are tearing it up...
WageL, too bad about yer 'Taters'. I planted potatoes, too, for the first time, with the help and encouragement of my Costa Rican Texas guests in May. So far, so good.
To all of you who are talking about emigrating out of the US for greener pastures; not necessary. We have our own (new) nation right here, a nation within a nation, called CFNation. We already have a President and a Cabinet, with more appointments to come, a community of like-minded, intelligent people, mostly liberal but some conservative, who care about the future and are concerned about the present. So stay here and become part of it.
It can't be easy for an American to take up residence in a third-world, Spanish speaking country. Anybody here familiar with the communist author B. Traven, from Chicago, (The Death Ship) or Malcolm Lowry's 'Under the Volcano'. Both wrote pretty good accounts of what can happen to Yankees or Brits who take up residence in Latin America. Not all of it is good, as Hemingway also found out.
JackieB, was i right, were you one of those California Honey Blonds of our dreams? You never answered.
OzoneP, did you text me?
-Marlin
"Almost everyone there lives in some kind of delusion."
Everyone here has at least one cherished delusion, or we wouldn't still be here. Burn your delusions.
Well, headed out with my metal detector, to some long forgotten, 17th century toll stations along the Farmington River, see if I can find anything worthwhile.
Later, Marlin
All I know is what Wikipedia tells me, not having a copy of The Catholic Encyclopedia, and what they tell me is that Lapide commented on every book of scripture except for The Book of Job and the psalms.
Very ingenious list. I would also add:
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SITTING ON DEATH ROW WAITING TO BE PUT TO SLEEP LIKE DOGS.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE GOING TO NIGHT SCHOOL TO GET THEIR G.E.D.. [smarter people can get their GED simply by showing up to take the test w/o bothering to study!].
SAILORS WITH A ROOSTER TATOOED ON ONE FOOT AND A PIG ON THE OTHER ARE LESS LIKELY TO DROWN ACCORDING TO THE CHINESE.
SAILORS WITH A SINGLE SMALL TASTEFUL SANCTIMONIOUS TATTOO WITH THE ENSCRIPTION "THE SEA IS LIFE" ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE ANNOYING ASSHOLES WHO WASHED OUT OF THE SEAL TEAMS BEFORE ATTENDING SUBMARINE SCHOOL.[knew someone like that once who was a hopeless officer's ass kissing lifer dog]
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO APPEAR IN A QUENTIN TARANTINO MOVIE AS A DRESS EXTRA.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO DECORATE THE ENTIRE ASS END OF THEIR VEHICLES WITH BUMPER STICKERS PURCHASED AT HEADS SHOPS.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE ASKED BY POLICE DURING TRAFFIC STOPS "DO YOU MIND IF I SEARCH YOUR VEHICLE?"
ALSO:
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO LIVE IN A SINGLE WIDE MOBILE HOME.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE FORGOTTEN ALL THOSE STRAY CANNABIS SEEDS STREWN AROUND ON THE FLOOR OF THEIR VEHICLE WHEN THEY RESPOND TO THE TRAFFIC COP'S REQUEST TO SEARCH THEIR VEHICLE BY FALSELY ASSERTING "THAT'S PERFECTLY OKAY OFFICER BECAUSE I AIN'T GOT NOTHIN' TO HIDE.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE LESS LIKELY TO KNOW THAT THEY CAN DEMAND A SEARCH WARRANT AND REFUSE REQUESTS TO SEARCH THEIR VEHIICLE.
THE HEAVILY TATTOOED ARE MORE LIKELY TO GET BUSTED FOR POSSESSION OF POT.
WOMEN DRESSED AS NUNS NEVER GET BUSTED FOR POT, EVEN IF THEY REALLY AREN'T NUNS.
Correction to above:
SOMETIMES WOMEN DRESSED AS NUNS DO GET BUSTED FOR POT BUT ONLY IF IT'S HALLOWEEN AND THEY'RE MAKING OUT IN PUBLIC WITH A GUY DRESSED UP AS A PRIEST AND THE COP IS IRISH CATHOLIC.
BHMarc, What year in Sub School? i was there in 1976. Get this, one of the sailors in my class, from New Jersey, went on to become a Fleet Admiral. When I knew him he was an E-3. Incredible.
Also Joe Sestak, D Penn. House of Rep US Congress was my Division Officer on a DDG I was on. The Division (Nav) was Ensign Sestak, The Chief, a PO3, and me. He was a good guy, later went on to become and Admiral, too. He lost his race for US Senate on 08. In 2006 he invited me down for a visit to Washington.
-Marlin
Tripp said: "Donde esta la biblioteca? I feel a strong urge to cut and paste a Wikipedia article over at CFN;)"
----------
Good one, Tripp!
Actually I have been trying to help out Sarah Palin by changing Wikipedia articles on American history to conform with Palin's version of events.
Somebody always changes them back to the historically accurate version.
Whatever happened to "Progress" ?
It used to be that people looked forward towards the future for better, improved, more possibilities, all kinds of possible improvements. And in fact the word "Scientist" was held in great respect, they were the high priests planning the future, bringing forth progress and a better future. Then, somewhere down the line, all kinds of reactionary Right Wing Thugs, Environmentalists who are so totally obsessed with that huge pile of crap they call "Nature" and so completely obsessed with that other boogie man called "overpopulation", capitalists and puny small businesses - entrepreneurs, and just plain dumb folks, ignorant, craps, you name it simply decided TO KILL THE FUTURE. And plan for a new dark ages, nay, a new stone age as Kunstler's World made by Hand (better known as Ape world of Man returning to Ape condition because he was a scaredy cat of the future, what total punks all of these people be!).
No more Rockets to Mars (we need trillions of these!), No more Skyscrapers (we need trillions of these! and remember to emphasize BIG numbers, to make a point, a make a statement, to make it clear that you are talking about BIG THINGS, change you can believe in BIG TIME), No more Cheap Rents and Free Salaries (we need trillions of these for thousands of trillions of people, all of them being Scientists and Technicians and Engineers, all of them with wildly Modified brains and Minds, and Mental Contraptions), No more Pride, Ambition, Goals, Collective Goals, Unity of Intent, MIND OVER MATTER, Super Consumption (to KILL AND DEMOLISH ALL AND EVERY POSSIBLE TRACE OF NATURE!) a kind of Super Nationalism, adoration and Worship for the Symbol and Symbols, (and of each of these we need trillions of these and as Intensity goes trillions of times more intense than the puny intensity of everyday life), etc.
On this website and so, so many others there is this huge constant thread of Overpopulation, we are "Too Many", and all kinds of Racisms, We against them, etc. On overpopulation, there is nothing further from the truth, we can host thousands of trillions if the greens and tree huggers and environmentalists weren't such selfish - egotistical slobs that want to hog it all up for themselves, not even noticing how selfish - egotistical and criminal they really are, all along thinking that they are right and correct and good, etc. What morons! the whole deal of overpopulation is a subtle device the rich and capitalists imposed to get a war going between poor people, to create resource "contention" when in fact there are no resource contentions, only rich and ruling class and capitalists that have set things up by design, that have planned this war between people from the outset, but everyone keeps on buying into overpopulation, there is not enough for everyone, etc.
And if people misbehave, they will be programmed accordingly, they will have some of their neural circuits changed (by computers, not by Man as Man is not reliable, too much of a slave to impulses and his Free Will and his never ending internal contradictions, unsatisfactions, confusions) and we must decompose that entity called Free Will in people so as people no longer contrast and fight each other. They become one unit, one monolithic block of Matter Saturating the Entire Universe with the "Power of Symbol Over Matter", "Symbol Over the Laws of Physics"...
Now go little Ryan, go on little Betty, copy this all and bring it to your teacher, another A+ and GOLD star, go on San Jose Mommy, check it out, bring it to your Boss (or your husbands, or whoever supports you), you will get another raise, they will like it a lot, finally some direction in a world that has lost all possible directions.
And check out this Mental Contraption that fell from the Sun in Betty and Ryan's backyard:
QII(//WII(//WOOO///////&&GJJJHKKK/////TTELLELLL=======
Whaow, what on earth is going on in there, honey bunch ? Wowo, that is really far out, I see all kinds of Mass to Thought converters, Aggregators to disaggregators, units to independence limit machines, wow, so much to discover and play around with. Betty and Ryan are going to have a ball today!
Quo Vadis ? baby ...
Marlin said: "When I knew him he was an E-3. Incredible."
------------
Why is it incredible? If you keep your nose clean, and obey orders, you can live off the government teat all your life, and live very comfortably. Your friend is probably playing golf, on DoD golf courses, at taxpayer expense.
In 1996, the weekly television series America's Defense Monitor noted that "Pentagon elites and high government officials [were still] tee-ing off at taxpayer expense" at some "234 golf courses maintained by the U.S. armed forces worldwide."
The navy, the army, the marine corps, all have golf courses. Take the Eaglewood Golf Courses at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. In 2004, the Pentagon paid out more than $352,000 to George Golf Design to refurbish its two courses (known as "the Raptor" and "the Eagle").
George Golf Design considerately worked on the courses one at a time, so that local duffers would not be left linkless. This was of critical importance since if both courses were out of commission, Virginia would have been left with only nine military golf facilities (navy, five; army,three; Marine Corps, one) with a total of fourteen courses.
Uh, ooh, spelling error again! Find where the error is game, go for it little Betty!!
Whatever happened to "Progress" ?
It used to be that people looked forward towards the future for better, improved, more possibilities, all kinds of possible improvements. And in fact the word "Scientist" was held in great respect, they were the high priests planning the future, bringing forth progress and a better future. Then, somewhere down the line, all kinds of reactionary Right Wing Thugs, Environmentalists who are so totally obsessed with that huge pile of crap they call "Nature" and so completely obsessed with that other boogie man called "overpopulation", capitalists and puny small businesses - entrepreneurs, and just plain dumb folks, ignorant, craps, you name it simply decided [b]TO KILL THE FUTURE. [/b]And plan for a new dark ages, nay, a new stone age as Kunstler's World made by Hand (better known as Ape world of Man returning to Ape condition because he was a scaredy cat of the future, what total punks all of these people be!).
No more Rockets to Mars (we need trillions of these!), No more Skyscrapers (we need trillions of these! and remember to emphasize BIG numbers, to make a point, to make a statement, to make it clear that you are talking about BIG THINGS, change you can believe in BIG TIME), No more Cheap Rents and Free Salaries (we need trillions of these for thousands of trillions of people, all of them being Scientists and Technicians and Engineers, all of them with wildly Modified brains and Minds, and Mental Contraptions), No more Pride, Ambition, Goals, Collective Goals, Unity of Intent, [b]MIND OVER MATTER,[/b] Super Consumption (to [b]KILL AND DEMOLISH ALL AND EVERY POSSIBLE TRACE OF NATURE![/b]) a kind of Super Nationalism, adoration and Worship for the Symbol and Symbols, (and of each of these we need trillions of these and as Intensity goes trillions of times more intense than the puny intensity of everyday life), etc.
On this website and so, so many others there is this huge constant thread of Overpopulation, we are "Too Many", and all kinds of Racisms, We against them, etc. On overpopulation, there is nothing further from the truth, we can host thousands of trillions if the greens and tree huggers and environmentalists weren't such selfish - egotistical slobs that want to hog it all up for themselves, not even noticing how selfish - egotistical and criminal they really are, all along thinking that they are right and correct and good, etc. What morons! the whole deal of overpopulation is a subtle device the rich and capitalists imposed to get a war going between poor people, to create resource "contention" when in fact there are no resource contentions, only rich and ruling class and capitalists that have set things up by design, that have planned this war between people from the outset, but everyone keeps on buying into overpopulation, there is not enough for everyone, etc.
And if people misbehave, they will be programmed accordingly, they will have some of their neural circuits changed (by computers, not by Man as Man is not reliable, too much of a slave to impulses and his Free Will and his never ending internal contradictions, unsatisfactions, confusions) and we must decompose that entity called Free Will in people so as people no longer contrast and fight each other. They become one unit, one monolithic block of Matter Saturating the Entire Universe with the [b]"Power of Symbol Over Matter", "Symbol Over the Laws of Physics"...[/b]
Now go on little Ryan, go on little Betty, copy this all and bring it to your teacher, another A+ and GOLD star, go on San Jose Mommy, check it out, bring it to your Boss (or your husbands, or whoever supports you), you will get another raise, they will like it a lot, finally some direction in a world that has lost all possible directions.
And check out this Mental Contraption that fell from the Sun in Betty and Ryan's backyard:
QII(//WII(//WOOO///////&&GJJJHKKK/////TTELLELLL=======
Whaow, what on earth is going on in there, honey bunch ? Wowo, that is really far out, I see all kinds of Mass to Thought converters, Aggregators to disaggregators, units to independence limit machines, wow, so much to discover and play around with. Betty and Ryan are going to have a ball today!
Quo Vadis ? baby ...
Uh, ooh, Forgot the BOLDS, and added some while I am at it, where is Freud when you need him ?
Whatever happened to "Progress" ?
It used to be that people looked forward towards the future for better, improved, more possibilities, all kinds of possible improvements. And in fact the word "Scientist" was held in great respect, they were the high priests planning the future, bringing forth progress and a better future. Then, somewhere down the line, all kinds of reactionary Right Wing Thugs, Environmentalists who are so totally obsessed with that huge pile of crap they call "Nature" and so completely obsessed with that other boogie man called "overpopulation", capitalists and puny small businesses - entrepreneurs, and just plain dumb folks, ignorant, craps, you name it simply decided TO KILL THE FUTURE. And plan for a new dark ages, nay, a new stone age as Kunstler's World made by Hand (better known as Ape world of Man returning to Ape condition because he was a scaredy cat of the future, what total punks all of these people be!).
No more Rockets to Mars (we need trillions of these!), No more Skyscrapers (we need trillions of these! and remember to emphasize BIG numbers, to make a point, a make a statement, to make it clear that you are talking about BIG THINGS, change you can believe in BIG TIME), No more Cheap Rents and Free Salaries (we need trillions of these for thousands of trillions of people, all of them being Scientists and Technicians and Engineers, all of them with wildly Modified brains and Minds, and Mental Contraptions), No more Pride, Ambition, Goals, Collective Goals, Unity of Intent, MIND OVER MATTER, Super Consumption (to KILL AND DEMOLISH ALL AND EVERY POSSIBLE TRACE OF NATURE!) a kind of Super Nationalism, adoration and Worship for the Symbol and Symbols, (and of each of these we need trillions of these and as Intensity goes trillions of times more intense than the puny intensity of everyday life), etc.
On this website and so, so many others there is this huge constant thread of Overpopulation, we are "Too Many", and all kinds of Racisms, We against them, etc. On overpopulation, there is nothing further from the truth, we can host thousands of trillions if the greens and tree huggers and environmentalists weren't such selfish - egotistical slobs that want to hog it all up for themselves, not even noticing how selfish - egotistical and criminal they really are, all along thinking that they are right and correct and good, etc. What morons! the whole deal of overpopulation is a subtle device the rich and capitalists imposed to get a war going between poor people, to create resource "contention" when in fact there are no resource contentions, only rich and ruling class and capitalists that have set things up by design, that have planned this war between people from the outset, but everyone keeps on buying into overpopulation, there is not enough for everyone, etc.
And if people misbehave, they will be programmed accordingly, they will have some of their neural circuits changed (by computers, not by Man as Man is not reliable, too much of a slave to impulses and his Free Will and his never ending internal contradictions, unsatisfactions, confusions) and we must decompose that entity called Free Will in people so as people no longer contrast and fight each other. They become one unit, one monolithic block of Matter Saturating the Entire Universe with the "Power of Symbol Over Matter", "Symbol Over the Laws of Physics"...
Now go little Ryan, go on little Betty, copy this all and bring it to your teacher, another A+ and GOLD star, go on San Jose Mommy, check it out, bring it to your Boss (or your husbands, or whoever supports you), you will get another raise, they will like it a lot, finally some direction in a world that has lost all possible directions.
And check out this Mental Contraption that fell from the Sun in Betty and Ryan's backyard:
QII(//WII(//WOOO///////&&GJJJHKKK/////TTELLELLL=======
Whaow, what on earth is going on in there, honey bunch ? Wowo, that is really far out, I see all kinds of Mass to Thought converters, Aggregators to disaggregators, units to independence limit machines, wow, so much to discover and play around with. Betty and Ryan are going to have a ball today!
Quo Vadis ? baby ...
"Just passing along what I'm seeing for those who care..."
You remind me of Francis, except you hear more of the creatures. God bless.
Asoka, to go from a Seaman to Fleet Admiral is pretty impressive, no?
-Marlin
Old/Spider6699 et al;
Dude, once again, WTF are you talking about?
-Marlin
"Or did the Catholic Church never delve so deeply into these waters?"
That boat don't float.
I guess this BLOG's name fits. So in 2011 we learn that people who sport tatoos are either self absorbed that need to be marked "special" beyond the identity their cranium's can muster for self or so short of self esteem they copy their peers acts of idiocy.
The the mental midget who fashions himself a philosopher goes all racial this - racial that and make the whole boat stink.
Back to the comics, this ain't happening.
"I think the tattoo trend today is just another expression of the lawlessness that exists in society."
Bingo.
Uh ooh, another spelling error in the "spelling error correction", another infinite recursion, why is everything an infinite recursion for me!?!
Go see if you can find it Betty, go man go, like a nice little girly, go for it!
Uh, ooh, Forgot the BOLDS, and added some while I am at it, where is Freud when you need him ?
Whatever happened to "Progress" ?
It used to be that people looked forward towards the future for better, improved, more possibilities, all kinds of possible improvements. And in fact the word "Scientist" was held in great respect, they were the high priests planning the future, bringing forth progress and a better future. Then, somewhere down the line, all kinds of reactionary Right Wing Thugs, Environmentalists who are so totally obsessed with that huge pile of crap they call "Nature" and so completely obsessed with that other boogie man called "overpopulation", capitalists and puny small businesses - entrepreneurs, and just plain dumb folks, ignorant, craps, you name it simply decided TO KILL THE FUTURE. And plan for a new dark ages, nay, a new stone age as Kunstler's World made by Hand (better known as Ape world of Man returning to Ape condition because he was a scaredy cat of the future, what total punks all of these people be!).
No more Rockets to Mars (we need trillions of these!), No more Skyscrapers (we need trillions of these! and remember to emphasize BIG numbers, to make a point, to make a statement, to make it clear that you are talking about BIG THINGS, change you can believe in BIG TIME), No more Cheap Rents and Free Salaries (we need trillions of these for thousands of trillions of people, all of them being Scientists and Technicians and Engineers, all of them with wildly Modified brains and Minds, and Mental Contraptions), No more Pride, Ambition, Goals, Collective Goals, Unity of Intent, MIND OVER MATTER, Super Consumption (to KILL AND DEMOLISH ALL AND EVERY POSSIBLE TRACE OF NATURE!) a kind of Super Nationalism, adoration and Worship for the Symbol and Symbols, (and of each of these we need trillions of these and as Intensity goes trillions of times more intense than the puny intensity of everyday life), etc.
On this website and so, so many others there is this huge constant thread of Overpopulation, we are "Too Many", and all kinds of Racisms, We against them, etc. On overpopulation, there is nothing further from the truth, we can host thousands of trillions if the greens and tree huggers and environmentalists weren't such selfish - egotistical slobs that want to hog it all up for themselves, not even noticing how selfish - egotistical and criminal they really are, all along thinking that they are right and correct and good, etc. What morons! the whole deal of overpopulation is a subtle device the rich and capitalists imposed to get a war going between poor people, to create resource "contention" when in fact there are no resource contentions, only rich and ruling class and capitalists that have set things up by design, that have planned this war between people from the outset, but everyone keeps on buying into overpopulation, there is not enough for everyone, etc.
And if people misbehave, they will be programmed accordingly, they will have some of their neural circuits changed (by computers, not by Man as Man is not reliable, too much of a slave to impulses and his Free Will and his never ending internal contradictions, unsatisfactions, confusions) and we must decompose that entity called Free Will in people so as people no longer contrast and fight each other. They become one unit, one monolithic block of Matter Saturating the Entire Universe with the "Power of Symbol Over Matter", "Symbol Over the Laws of Physics"...
Now go little Ryan, go on little Betty, copy this all and bring it to your teacher, another A+ and GOLD star, go on San Jose Mommy, check it out, bring it to your Boss (or your husbands, or whoever supports you), you will get another raise, they will like it a lot, finally some direction in a world that has lost all possible directions.
And check out this Mental Contraption that fell from the Sun in Betty and Ryan's backyard:
QII(//WII(//WOOO///////&&GJJJHKKK/////TTELLELLL=======
Whaow, what on earth is going on in there, honey bunch ? Wowo, that is really far out, I see all kinds of Mass to Thought converters, Aggregators to disaggregators, units to independence limit machines, wow, so much to discover and play around with. Betty and Ryan are going to have a ball today!
Quo Vadis ? baby ...
Take the useful events
For your tall.
Red mouth.
To hell with power and hate and war.
The mouth of a pretty girl ...
The weather in the highest soul
Put the tips of your fingers
on a baby man;
Teach him to be beautiful.
To hell with power and hate and war.
Tell God that we like
The rain, the snow, the flowers,
And trees, and all things gentle and clean
That have growth on the earth.
White winds
Golden fields.
To hell with power and hate and war.
-Kenneth Patchen
Instructions for Angels
-Marlin
That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.
MD, that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank you for the compliment.
Marlin,
'Tweren't me texted you. (I don't do da texting t'ing.) ;o) I'm a simple "phone call" kinda person.
Hey! What the fuck is up with the loooooong, loud, and ludicrous today!?
My klaxons [once again] are blatting out a warning: "Distractions; Bullshittery; Distractions; Pay no attention to that Kunstler behind the curtain; Leave blog; Nothing to see or read here; Run, Run, Run Away!"
I know it's extreme, but why WOULDN'T those in thrall to the gummint propaganda machine concentrate a few [camo-clad] resources on destroying readership and considered commentary here (amongst the aware)? It would likely be a prime target in the program to dumb down the 'Murkin "publick", and keep us all hopelessly mired in ignorance (and thus, easily manipulated).
Don't forget, we read Kunstler for entertaining takes on a decidedly grim reality. That's how we can handle predicaments that can't be "fixed": we make a few dark jokes about it, and then move on to get busy with something that might actually build a bit of resilience. To those "in charge", THAT is a dangerous thing, as it breeds independent thinking (and conversely, a lack of dependence on those who prey on the helpless... ummm, yer basic fascists).
Just as an aside, yer basic fascists are NOT illusory, that's just what they'd have you think; they're quite real and are throwing a small portion of their vast wealth into creating puppets and attendant brownshirts.
So much bullshittery (tm MM), so little time [for an empire in decline, racing for domination against the grinding wheels of collapse].
Its dark out, Jack
The stations out there don't identify themselves
We're in a raw-blind, like burned rats
Its running out
All around us
The footprints of the beast, on nobody has any notion of
The white and vacant eyes
Of something above there
Something that doesn't know we exist
I smell heartbreak up there, Jack
A heartbreak at the center of things -
And in which we don't figure at all.
-Kenneth Patchen
All the Roary Night
-Marlin
So to summarize: Worst drought in over 100 years causes water levels behind Three Gorges Dam to fall. Dam generators are a different elevations; as the water falls more get cut off. Hydropower production is cheap and completely domestic relative to coal and petroleum. The loss of hydropower therefore eliminates de-facto energy subsidies. Electric power producers have been regulated into becoming price takers but this loss of subsidies makes it impossible to continue producing. Minimal adjustments to the price of electricity are offset by coal shortages caused by crises in Australia, Mongolia, South Africa.
Meanwhile People's Bank of China PBOC has been doing counter-QE2 cach injections and selling bond repurchases. Follow me on twitter to see this develop in realtime @babystrangeloop
So. all I have to do is have my social security check direct deposited into my USA bank account.
Whenever I need money ... I can withdraw local currency as easily as I withdraw dollars here.
===============
WOW!! Clever idea. I'll bet the IRS never thought of that. [sarcasm off]
We've been getting a preview of TLE with intermittent power outages today, and actually with some regularity since we've been here. Sorry for the double post.
Another provacative essay by Jim, last week's essay had faint echoes of the "Book of Esther" from a torah studies viewpoint, this week is more reality based at least from an educated jew's point of view of life at the place in society where the residents are not even on the bottom rung anymore.
Tatoos amongst whites IMO are mostly that of despair being displayed, whites have become Quee Queg from "Moby Dick", too bad for them, I suggest they turn off the TV. If you spot a white person with tats and dreamcatcher paraphenalia you are looking at the lowest a white person can go before they might as well be reborn in a lower darker caste or a bug.
Non-whites do not need to read any further. Listen white people if you are feeling despair and you have the urge to ink up or buy a dreamcatcher from Chief Wannabe I suggest you turn off the TV and go fix something. Thank me later
- on the heartbreaks of agriculture-
Yeah, my mother's dad bought an excellent piece of land in 1928. Not the most propitious year for land purchases in the deep South, btw.
He had one mule, one wife, one 12 year old daughter (my mom), one 14 year old son, and a 5 year old son. They had 50 acres planted in some corn, but mostly in cotton. Hardly any of us alive today can understand the work, sweat, and love that went into those fields. The corn was tasseling and the tiny cotton bolls were looking good.
Late one afternoon that week, a normal thundercloud came up in the distance. "Sounds like rain, we can sure use it."
That's the standard saying of farmers throughout the world, I believe, hoping for rain during dry weather.
But that cloud dropped enough hail on their fields to strip the bolls off the cotton and beat up the corn. They could tell by looking that they were not going to make a cotton crop that year. That meant that they were going to lose their new farm and all their year's work.
- you talk about making the best of a bad situation -
My granddad put the kids to picking up hailstones from where they had gathered below the eves of the house. He mixed the hail with salt in an old galvanized bucket. They took some of their sweet fresh milk and cream, mixed it with sugar and some of my grandmother's precious vanilla and poured it into glasses.
Ice cream was a rare treat in those days, in the rural South. My granddad said a Blessing over the ice cream, and they all celebrated that small joy together, before heading out to prop up and rescue what little remained of their crop.
Later that summer they had to back in with my great grandmother's folks. They had no other options. You could always count on family in those days - sometimes that was about all you had to fall back on.
- a reading from the book of hard times -
It's one world, baby, ... GOG
No it ain't. That's a utopian view. The practical fact is that you can't just cross borders without getting thrown in jail.
And weren't you all immigrants too? - GOG
This question was directed at Vlad but it could be directed at anybody born on this continent. I don't know about you GOG but I was born here and lived all my life here. I am not an immigrant. Canada is home and always has been. I have no memory of or loyalty to a foreign homeland or a foreign people.
Aboriginals have legitimate gripes but I can't re-write history. I'm just as born here as they are. They are going to have to take the bull by the horns and better their own lot. The best we can do is to give them a hand up, to not impede them or screw them up worse.
I know they can do it because I've seen it done. My elementary school principal was an Indian. He was a fine fellow, a pillar of the community and his kids were part of the gang, always out with us playing baseball and street hockey. I've seen other examples also. My university roommate was 1/2 (or thereabouts) Cherokee by way of his American grandparents. He's got a PHD in psychology and works as a clinical psychologist. It's not always alcoholism and degradation for Aboriginals.
This will make Vlad cringe but I agree that racial inter-marriage/inter-breeding is a good thing. I think it's good to give the human genome a good churn. Anyway human libido will do its thing. It always has. Vlad might as well curse the tides.
Given time the natural process of evolution will sort out the issue of skin colour based on the degree of solar radiation at different latitudes. As time passes the descendants of people in the northern latitudes will become lighter skinned or white regardless of their present day skin colour and the opposite for people further south. Again Vladdy, you might as well curse the tides.
I appreciate the cabinet appointment! So how do I get a CFN chapter assignment? Do you give them out? Do I get to list my cabinet position at the bottom of my posts, or is that considered bombastic, and to be kept at Post ID only?
Any chance I could reassign my position as Minister of Horticulture instead of Agriculture? Doesn't sound as important to agrarian people, I know, but then, since agriculture depends on growth to operate, and its replacement-elect is something a lot more like horticulture, it's really just the perception that needs to catch up.
To my mind, it'd be like I was an early Norse Christian and you wanted me to go by the title Minister of Paganism.
"Aboriginals have legitimate gripes but I can't re-write history. I'm just as born here as they are. They are going to have to take the bull by the horns and better their own lot. The best we can do is to give them a hand up, to not impede them or screw them up worse."
I wish more of us Canadians felt this way. Seems far too many are happy to let the aboriginals suffer, happy to see our elected governments dither away time, resources and responsibilities. We like to pat ourselves on the back here in Canada with our human rights posturing on the global scene, but our treatment of first nations people is gut-wrenchingly awful, shameful. And we wonder why things like Caledonia happen?
BrentMc:
Kunstler apparently got a bit wrong about Belgium. However, judging from your not refuting it, I gather that the mayonnaise thing is accurate.
Thus, Kunstler's most damning indictment of the Belgians stands.
Regarding American exceptionalism:
Someone should write a treatise on the various forms of folly that originate in American exceptionalism:
1). The notion of the constitutional fundamentalists that if you simply adhere to the principles of our Constitution, you are immune from the laws of physics and nature.
2). The notion of the neocons that you can transplant Jeffersonian Democracy with some troops and cheeze doodles.
3). The notion of the progressives that you can allow unrestricted immigration without creating a Soylent Green style dystopia.
Interestingly, all major political factions in the US employ exceptionalism in order to prop up their ludicrous agendas.
Yeah and remember the stand off at Oka?
There's atoning to be done but where to start? How do you re-set the clocks? It's a hard thing to unravel a five hundred year old calamity.
And I think that while Harper was issuing apologies for the shitty treatment of native kids in those residential schools he might have gone further. But while saying "sorry" is a start how does it help a multitude of de-railed lives?
I really hate to paraphrase Reagan(?) here but I think that this is one place where govt really isn't the solution, govt is the problem. It just helped to perpetuate and sustain an awful mess.
So what to do with these "First Nations"? This system we have isn't working. I think that they have to get out into wider society and look after themselves. Make a new start. I think it's the only way forward for them.
"I think that they have to get out into wider society and look after themselves. Make a new start. I think it's the only way forward for them."
I'm inclined to agree with you here, however many first nations councils, tribes, etc. seem to still want a degree of self-governance. I guess this would be a version of the reservation system, only better? I don't really have a problem with that either, but having them so beholden to gov't hand-outs is a lose-lose: they never really get off their feet as a community, and the rest of Canadians tend to resent them for their "privileges." Of course, they often have unpotable drinking water...
Great story Prog. And maybe that is why your grandad was able to fabricate a moment of ice-cream in the midst of a catastrophe - your family had a safety net. But wow, talk about experiencing the hard reality of nature; I'm not sure a pink slip from the office could deliver such visceral impact.
Hey Jim, good post. You wrote: "I stopped at a convenience store at the edge of the Adirondack Mountains on Saturday afternoon and a more frightening gaggle of disfigured mutts I have never seen before."
This seems to be happening everywhere now. I ride (cycling) a lot in WI, and was just there over the weekend. We stop at a lot of gas stations / mini marts, and you'll see the same type of folks. But, also very fat, smokers, tats, dirty clothes. Plus, a lot of these poor bastards, buy their food at these crappy stores, if you can call it real food.
Another thing I noticed, they like to leave the cars running, while they're in the store. WTF?
Sorry, this country is fucked!
I think I have to agree with Max Keiser, when he says Americans are stupid, most anyway.
Race horses are largely descended from Arabian Horses. But those horses are very small and to improve size and THEREFORE speed, they very carefully bred them with larger European horses - always trying to keep the Arabian genes for speed paramount. Your idea of willy nilly mixing is just a recipe for dysgenics or disaster - like putting an Arabian with an old nag. Miscegenation is good? For who? For what? Good for the Goverment? Yes, because they don't want a high level citizenry to call them to account.
Because we aren't animals, we can say no to our instincts. This pays dividends in our lives. Saying no to sex with people from the Tropics means that our descendants will tend to be smart and prosperous. And they will rule the descendants of those who could not say no to this forbiden pleasure. All of Latin America and Brazil bears witness to my words.
Just because you are an out breeder doesn't mean you have argue for it. Are you trying to justify it after all these years? You married a person of a high IQ race. If you had children, the forgoing would not apply, but there would be other social problems - alienation, lack of cohesion. Society can bear a few people who did as you did, but not too many. I'm fine with some mixing in port cities or border cities. But everywhere? And to make that the official ideology? Such heterogenity is the death of any culture.
"This will make Vlad cringe but I agree that racial inter-marriage/inter-breeding is a good thing."
Your time frame and goals {or lack thereof} will bite you in the ass. One generation - hybrid vigor - two generations - perhaps sterility - perhaps worse.
Of course this depends also on how pure of stock you start with. Then you have to consider multiple offspring. The firstborn might be a fine specimen of flesh, after that things go different.
Telegony has its limits.
When you start talking about humans, like I am now, you must consider cultural contributions of both parents which will probably produce confusion and chaos. This is the prize of assimulationists since confused people are easier to manage with fear, loneliness and threats of hunger.
Hello to all the smart folks here. Not sure if this is the right forum for such a question; there seems to be a lot of "let me prove just how much more intelligent I am than you" going on, but I'd really like to learn what some of the advice for escaping this increasingly ridiculous country are. Where to move? How to make oneself economically viable in a land not dependent on the American dollar, etc. I know these are broad questions, but a simple starting point I think.
Thanks
I remember reading a diary of an early North Dakota resident.
They worked all summer and had fields of wheat ready to harvest, when a thunderstorm came and destroyed the entire crop.
Some of my potatoes drowned, but some survived.
The corn field next door was flooded, but it looks like most of it survived. I don't know what the yields will be.
Weirdly, there is about a 20 acre field down the street that no one has planted yet.
Something fishy is going on here. Last year, they suddenly started building houses on a soybean field and didn't even bother harvesting it, just bulldozed it.
Eventually they put up a sign, bragging the the Illinois Housing Development and President Barack Obama were responsible. For the travesty.
Now they have open house signs and balloons up, but I don't see a lot of people clamoring to live there.
They are out in a field, with no trees, no awnings over the south windows and half of them have air conditioners on the south side of the house.
Who the hell approved those plans?
Official Field Memorandum
CFNation HQ
06/07/2011
Dept of Agriculture hereby changed to Dept of
Horticulture.
Minister of Horticulture, Trippticket, Georgia, USA, CFNation.
Signed,
Marlin, Chief of Staff
Tripp talks about genetic resistance to some diseases, smallpox, for instance.
National Geographic had an article once about alcohol, and how almost every culture had some form of it.
But, apparently, the North American aborigines didn't.
We are told that they traded their land for beads, but I read a fascinating book about the history of the US, as seen through the production of rum. (Which, by the way, for the Navy guys here, mentioned how the right of grog for the British Navy came about).
Anyway, beads soon lost their appeal for the Native Americans, and not much else appealed to them, self-sufficient as they were.
But alcohol! They stripped the streams of beaver for bottles of rum.
This upset the sober elders among them, but appeals to white traders on moral grounds didn't get very far.
Go figure.
I'm just wondering why alcohol seems to wreak such havoc on native communities to this day.
Maybe they need to interbreed with stock that have been drinking for centuries.
"The notion of the constitutional fundamentalists that if you simply adhere to the principles of our Constitution, you are immune from the laws of physics and nature."
I wouldn't stop there. Immunity from any higher Law isn't even claimed, much less expected. The principles of the Constitution build upon the principles of {all} higher Law which is why the founders made explicit notice that this Constitution would only work {perform - ie: actually serve as protection for} a moral people.
Lose the morality and adherence to higher Law and you lose the protections of a Republic, a nation of Laws.
Glad I came back this morning. On the subject of Canada's aboriginal population, it's obvious that Cash and TorontoBound have put some thought into the whole issue. So have I. We've got a reserve just twenty miles north of town and the kids from there came to town for school so we all hung out together.
Many years later in my working life I had native clients fighting denials of disability pensions and learned from them that the kids I went to school with were also going really North for hunting trips with their fathers and grandfathers. They were learning the art of trapping along with their hunting skills. I had a client who was teaching his ten year old son religious rituals in a special place on their tiny piece of reserve land.
So even as they were well integrated into the mainstream they treasured and practised some of their ancient rituals, keeping their culture alive. And they have every right to do that, just as much as the Scots who next weekend in our town will have their annual Highland Games with grown men in skirts heaving giant twenty foot logs into the air.
The answer to the question of native rights, land claims and redress of past injustices lies beyond my knowledge. For the natives living in our North, without drinking water and proper accommodation for many years, we can't afford to just let Nature take its course, or to let governments keep dicking them around.
I still say it's all one world, and who cares what part of the world a person came from? When you steer clear of thoughtless generalizations about whole groups of people and treat each person you encounter with respect, the world becomes much less frightening and we can all move forward without mindless hatred.
I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to argue. Native Americans are somehow predisposed genetically to ruining their heritage and lives due to alcohol? Interesting, but where can I find the evidence?
That gulch sounds promising. I feel better. Hope it's not too far from the house.
There was a picture from the Alabama tornados where 2 feet of soil and turf had been stripped right out of the path of the tornado. Unvbeleivable :-) power.
I hope some people will pay attention to your media splash. Some of the old foogies will bad mouth you to the high heavens, and then quietly slip by to see how things are going.
Is there a consensus about how soon economic collapse will shut down this country. Is it going to happen within a year, or, will it take another 10, 20, or thirty years. How to predict such a thing?
I hear that "think, live, live think" quote a lot from my AA buddies. Don't know if it's from *THE* Big Book, or not. There's also a large body of oral wisdom that floats around those tables.
The little simple sayings and aphorisms drive you crazy. Usually, because they are so simple assed, but true.
Re: Screaming children. LOL. Reminded me of the movies "Jurassic Park" and the newer "War of the Worlds." Screaming kids through the whole damn thing. After awhile, I'm thinking to myself "Feed 'em to the dinosaurs!" "Throw them to the aliens!"
But then, I'm childless, myself, which probably colors my outlook.
Farmer John stopped by the other day. I got my CSA box from him last year. Not this year. 1.) I don't have the money 2.) They didn't spend a dime in my store. A 90 cent Louis L'Amour would have made all the difference in the world.
Any-who. Farmer John announced that his wife is pregnant, again. I think it's their 5th. 6th? I couldn't resist tweaking him, a bit. "Now, John, you're a farmer. You DO know where those things come from, don't you?" I thought they'd stop, once he got his boy. Maybe they're some of those Full Quiver folks. Delicacy prevents one from enquiring too closely.
a great and true post.
The United States is in debt to the tune of nearly a half-million dollars per citizen. Now that's not per worker or income earner - that is per citizen – including the unemployed.
Just that fact alone suggests that certain default (or hyperinflation) is on the horizon. Just how in Sam hill can average Joe (and each of his children) pay off $500K of debt and still eat? Oh yes, let's not forget to throw 15 percent unemployment into the equation. I don't see any way around it but default. Doesn't look rosy, that's for sure.
On a brighter note, recently got an unplanned test run of how our solar system will assist us during the phase of peak oil when the electricity grid goes down intermittently and then for good. We had six days without electricity over a large portion of North Alabama due to tornados (another Long Emergency issue). We were the only residence with lights - inside and out - in a large swath of total darkness. I think our friends and neighbors who we invited hang out in our home during this crisis came to appreciate solar power and alternative energy “in a new light” when the carbon-hungry power grid went belly up.
There is more about this at http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/06/solar_energy_helps_brings_madi.html.
Some of our neighbors got generators then they had to drive 50 miles and wait in lines to get gasoline to feed them. Almost all gas stations in the area were without power and hence could not pump gas. Our solar system just kept on supplying quiet, carbon free and noise free power as it has been doing for several years now. No hassles.
I think having a small system with a couple of photovoltaic panels and storage batteries for 24-7 power is a good thing to have, along with other emergency supplies. Maybe better to get setup now, before the great default event happens.
CABRA1080
I have no way of knowing, but I threw it out there for speculation.
Qtip.........
What are the laws with regards to expats and Social[in]security?
It amazes me so few can pretend to control so much. When I look at a globe and pretend I want to move, it seems each country is at odds with the globalist system. A very, bloody world war or a planet-size police state are equally to be rejected. Make your stand right where you are, there's no where else to go.
My friend has solar power, and when our electricity was out after our hurricane, he let the kids recharge their cellphones.
My across the street neighbor ran a generator to power a security light!
Are you kidding? The only light on for miles. I wouldn't think that would make them less secure.
They were advertising that they had a generator, which I think is easier to steal than a solar panel.
Tattoos 2:
Blacks dont need Tatts!
Cover story from La Times...
Tattoo Arrest: Gang Member With Tattoo of Murder Scene Gets 65 Years
Gang Member With Tattoo of Murder Scene Gets 65 Years ..... There are thousands more behind him to take his place at ...
Anthony Garcia, Dumbest Killer Ever, Got Murder Scene Tattooed on
Anthony Garcia, Dumbest Killer Ever, was a run-of-the-mill hood when LA deputies arrested him for a ....www.truecrimereport.com/2011/.../anthony_garcia
Oh, many years ago I saw a study or theory that the farther a population was, in time and space from the invention of alcohol, the less resistance there is to it's affects and addictive qualities.
So alcohol was invented somewhere in the Middle East, umpity thousand years B.C. (or Before Common Era, BCE, if you want to get all politically correct about it :-) . I suppose there's maybe some natural selection involved. Fucked up teens who off themselves while carrying a full load without issue, do not pass on any genetic predisposition to digest alcohol in a less efficient manner.
It's that time of the year again, in our little rural county. There's always a car load (or two) of teens, wiped out on some country road after graduation ceremonies. As sure as the seasons change. Can't say there's any noticeable improvement in the local gene pool.
Any-who. That study (or theory) of time and distance and alcohol is out there somewhere. I'm just too lazy to track it down.
The United States is in debt to the tune of nearly a half-million dollars per citizen.
Does euro ville have the same amount of debt?
Google "alcohol abuse among native Americans" and you will find innumerable articles. Here is one link for starters:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k36036222n1v1653/
Any-who. Farmer John announced that his wife is pregnant, again. I think it's their 5th. 6th..
Why do you care how many he has?
Its not yr concern.
Sounds like 'Everyone has to be like me'.
Gotcha. I see how the correlation might be drawn, yet it mimics a throwback position to eugenic science that has thankfully been discarded by most intelligent people today. From my own enquiry, it seems there is no basis for the genetic predetermination belief. A predisposition to alcohol use, perhaps, as it is shown that many mammals purposely ingest flora to self-intoxicate, yet to further suggest that some races are uniquely disposed to severe substance abuse is unfounded.
Some will argue that socioeconomic factors are far more determinative of a proclivity toward substance abuse. It seems credible to think that Native Americans increasingly turned to more severe usage of alcohol as whites came to dominate the landscape and change the natural economy they were use to.
Spidey might like this:
"This theory of depletable willpower has its detractors, and, as in most academic topics studied across disciplinary fields, one finds plenty of disputes over the details. But this model of self-control is now one of the most prominent theories of willpower in social psychology, at the core of what E. Tory Higgins of Columbia University described in 2009 as "an explosion of scientific interest" in the topic over the last decade. Some skeptics correctly emphasize the vital role of motivation, and some emphasize instead that "attention" is limited. But the core of the breakthrough is that resolving conflicts among choices is expensive at a cognitive level and can be unpleasant. It causes mental fatigue.
Nowhere is this revelation more important than in our efforts to understand poverty. Taking this model of willpower into the real world, psychologists and economists have been exploring one particular source of stress on the mind: finances. The level at which the poor have to exert financial self-control, they have suggested, is far lower than the level at which the well-off have to do so. Purchasing decisions that the wealthy can base entirely on preference, like buying dinner, require rigorous tradeoff calculations for the poor. As Princeton psychologist Eldar Shafir formulated the point in a recent talk, for the poor, "almost everything they do requires tradeoff thinking. It's distracting, it's depleting ... and it leads to error." The poor have to make financial tradeoff decisions, as Shafir put it, "on anything above a muffin."
Last December, Princeton economist Dean Spears published a series of experiments that each revealed how "poverty appears to have made economic decision-making more consuming of cognitive control for poorer people than for richer people." In one experiment, poor participants in India performed far less well on a self-control task after simply having to first decide whether to purchase body soap. As Spears found, "Choosing first was depleting only for the poorer participants." Again, if you have enough money, deciding whether to buy the soap only requires considering whether you want it, not what you might have to give up to get it. Many of the tradeoff decisions that the poor have to make every day are onerous and depressing: whether to pay rent or buy food; to buy medicine or winter clothes; to pay for school materials or loan money to a relative. These choices are weighty, and just thinking about them seems to exact a mental cost."
and you guys wonder why poor people appear flustered...
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136996087/new-republic-let-them-eat-cake-or-dont-bother-baking
Have you seen the new Nissan ad campaign? "What if everything ran on gas?" It's rather ironic. Because, duh, everything DOES run on gas.
Well, the world WOULD be a better place if everyone were more like me. Rather, than say, you. :-)
Francis was a Catholic. Give up your hatred. I don't blame you for hating the Vatican Two Church however. They worship Blacks not Christ.
Not exactly sure of LLB's general disposition on things, but the comments you took issue with seem relatively innocuous.
Besides, how many children people have these days has an immediate proximal impact on others and a definite impact on the human population generally.
It is a concern, but agreeably one LLB has no power to control. It should be left to individual families to determine how many children they produce, but poor decisions needn't be tolerated.
Relax, I don't think dude was suggesting, "Everyone has to be like me."
Some breeds don't go well together. Even though Lapps are proto-Causcasians, when mixed with Whites, things don't fit too well. The heart will be too small for the frame or the jaw too small for the face. Eskimos and Asians mix better with Whites than they do.
Liberalism at its worse. Lucan is a hater. Big time. He covers it up by his down home style and an absurd internet courtlineness - like saying things like "Miss Jackie". For all his reading, he has never questioned his basic premises.
Well, since I advocated interbreeding to dilute the effects, (mostly to aggravate Vlad,lol), I don't think that you could see my comment as an eugenic viewpoint.
Well, thanks for providing a link to an abstract, but a quick glance revealed that the study doesn't hold much water.
It should be pretty easy to reason that alcohol as a foreign substance had pretty dramatic effects on the physiology of Indians, but again, there isn't much basis for the "genetic predetermination" claim.
Drinking animal milk use to be fatal to humans, but over time, people became tolerant.
By the way, if everything is an addiction, then, nothing is.
Qtip.........
What are the laws with regards to expats and Social[in]security?
===========
I don't know. It's been too long since I read that article. Things like giving up US citizenship or having dual citizenship come into play.
As my smart-ass daughter would say:
GOOOOOOOO GULLLLLLL IT !!!
No, I didn't think you were out-rightly espousing a eugenic viewpoint, as some of the oddly articulate but nonetheless crazy racists who patronize this blog do. But the initial comment might induce speculation in that direction -- an inadvertent throwback position inferred in your comment.
Anthropological biologist Robert Sapolski has produced some strong science debunking genetic determinism.
Cheers
Northern European stock are more tolerant of cow's milk than Asians.
I'm pretty sure that it's genetic.
You can't possibly think that interbreeding humans leads to sterility in the second generation!
We wouldn't have 7 billion people on this planet if that were true.
I know that you're more into faith than reason, but it doesn't take that much thinking to know that the second generation of mixed marriages are not sterile.