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Home alone now. Finally. This is the thing that I need more than anything. Time. Quiet. Alone.
Home alone now. Finally. This is the thing that I need more than anything. Time. Quiet. Alone.
I was impressed. He was there to promote his latest book, Our Man, which is about the controversial diplomate Richard Holbrook and the old America that he symbolizes. The new America is something different. Packer understands the changes in our culture better than most and I fully intend to seek out his writing in the future. I have probably read him in the past but the name did not stick in my head.
Our Man is written in an unusual style for a biography. Rather than being overfull of dates and details, it is told in narrative style by a fictional narrator who is older than the author. The narrator was "there" for the whole story, and tells it in a style that the author repeated calls "a yarn". I'm sure it will be a good read, and I will read it as soon as the demand for it at the library goes down a bit.
The book that he wrote in 2013 is called The Unwinding and it is about the cultural shifts that led to the election of Trump--except that at the time nobody knew it would lead there. It is on my reading list. The NY Times says it explains why Trump was elected. For many of us that bears some thought.
When Packer first took the stage he looked up at the audience in the Schnitzer auditorium and he said that Portland is not the biggest city, but it was the biggest crowd. The auditorium is huge and a beauty. It holds 2,500 people, and it was full. After his talk he took out his phone and photographed the crowd from his view on the stage.
Portland, Oregon is an interesting place, full of many highly educated individuals who dearly want to save the world. They share Packer's sadness and fear about the changes that have come to our country and our politics in the last 20 years. The patterns of applause during the Q&A period at the end reveal the overall agreement of this crowd with Packer's assessment of what is happening because of Trump. His answer to the question about Syria (after the Trump-licensed Turkish bombing of the Kurds) made the situation more clear to me than months of reading in the Times.
Packer recommended three books to read (not his own) at the end of the talk. I put them all on my library list but the one that really excites me is more current. It is called Intellectuals and Race, by Thomas Sowell. Amazon says it is an inclusive critique of the intellectual's destructive role in shaping ideas about race in America. Other sources talk about how much ruckus this book has raised. Intellectuals don't like to be criticised but in this day and age, they need to respond to criticism rather than dismissing it.
I would say that the ivory tower has made some missteps in shaping ideas about sexuality and gender, too. I have been subject to some pretty strong progressive brainwashing in this town and witnessed it being misused to shame and alienate. We would do well to pay attention to George Packer and other thoughtful people in the future as we try to find a way out of the stalemate we are in culturally and politically. Our democracy is on its way toward failure and if we care about this experiment enough to continue it, we need to find a way that we can talk across the rather deep divisions.
Letter to Dog Owners
Jul. 21st, 2019 11:21 amMaybe you're not like my neighbors. They're fine people, decent people. However, their two poodles are currently gated on the front porch of their house and barking at everything that goes by. The constant noise pollution is not welcome. I will remember this if I ever want to have a loud party or run a saw at 5:30am. Consideration gets consideration.
This morning when I was done working in the garden I headed for the house only to realize on the steps that something was on the bottom of my sandal. I scraped it off on the edge of the steps and it was dog shit. I hosed off my shoe and the steps. It may seem like a small thing to you, that your dog does not come when you call it and loves to shit in my garden, but it is not a small thing to me.
Yesterday I went for a walk with a girlfriend who has two dogs. She wanted me to walk one but I begged out. The one that she did bring, an American pitbull, was kept on leash the whole time. It took the treats which were offered regularly regardless of behavior, and appeared indifferent to the kiddie talk tone taken in her speech. It kept jumping on me, and slobbering on my legs whenever we stopped. Slobbering may be normal in your world, but I don't want it in mine.
I live across the street from a park, and people walk their dogs past here all day every day. I have a cat. My cat hates dogs with a ferocity I have never seen in another creature. She will go out of her way to draw blood if the dog is clueless enough to get in range. But some dogs would kill her if they caught her, and she recognizes that kind and runs, climbs, escapes. The park rules are that all dogs are to be on leash at all times except for when inside the dog park, which is always available. I believe city rules are the same. Any dog owner stupid enough to let their dog in my yard deserves the vet bill. Any dog that is hunter enough to threaten my cat should be on leash.
My last pet was a dog. I loved him deeply. I did a real dog obedience training with him, with a lady who trained German shepherds for the police. We both learned, and we had a language. He did not run off to shit in someone else's yard. I could call him off a chase when other dogs were still chasing. He would sit and watch quietly when I spotted wildlife. He would heel, really heel without a leash on, and stay. He would stay laying in the shade while I had lunch in a restaurant. So when you say your dog is well trained, at a bare minimum I expect that you can call them back to you and they will come. Every time. If he's not well trained, he should be on a leash.
Postscript: I texted my neighbors to ask for some quiet and admitted that the dog barking was getting to me. They took the dogs indoors and the noise has stopped. I can feel my blood pressure gradually dropping back toward normal.
I think that when this cat dies I will not have any more pets. It is very American to have pets, it helps us with the isolation. But I would rather hang out with my neighbors than listen to their pets. I would rather make love to my partner than pet the cat. I would rather not have a litter box to clean or warm piles of dung to pick up with a plastic bag. The numbers are astounding about pet ownership in the US: could it be that we are substituting cats, dogs, computers and phones for having real connections with other people?
This morning when I was done working in the garden I headed for the house only to realize on the steps that something was on the bottom of my sandal. I scraped it off on the edge of the steps and it was dog shit. I hosed off my shoe and the steps. It may seem like a small thing to you, that your dog does not come when you call it and loves to shit in my garden, but it is not a small thing to me.
Yesterday I went for a walk with a girlfriend who has two dogs. She wanted me to walk one but I begged out. The one that she did bring, an American pitbull, was kept on leash the whole time. It took the treats which were offered regularly regardless of behavior, and appeared indifferent to the kiddie talk tone taken in her speech. It kept jumping on me, and slobbering on my legs whenever we stopped. Slobbering may be normal in your world, but I don't want it in mine.
I live across the street from a park, and people walk their dogs past here all day every day. I have a cat. My cat hates dogs with a ferocity I have never seen in another creature. She will go out of her way to draw blood if the dog is clueless enough to get in range. But some dogs would kill her if they caught her, and she recognizes that kind and runs, climbs, escapes. The park rules are that all dogs are to be on leash at all times except for when inside the dog park, which is always available. I believe city rules are the same. Any dog owner stupid enough to let their dog in my yard deserves the vet bill. Any dog that is hunter enough to threaten my cat should be on leash.
My last pet was a dog. I loved him deeply. I did a real dog obedience training with him, with a lady who trained German shepherds for the police. We both learned, and we had a language. He did not run off to shit in someone else's yard. I could call him off a chase when other dogs were still chasing. He would sit and watch quietly when I spotted wildlife. He would heel, really heel without a leash on, and stay. He would stay laying in the shade while I had lunch in a restaurant. So when you say your dog is well trained, at a bare minimum I expect that you can call them back to you and they will come. Every time. If he's not well trained, he should be on a leash.
Postscript: I texted my neighbors to ask for some quiet and admitted that the dog barking was getting to me. They took the dogs indoors and the noise has stopped. I can feel my blood pressure gradually dropping back toward normal.
I think that when this cat dies I will not have any more pets. It is very American to have pets, it helps us with the isolation. But I would rather hang out with my neighbors than listen to their pets. I would rather make love to my partner than pet the cat. I would rather not have a litter box to clean or warm piles of dung to pick up with a plastic bag. The numbers are astounding about pet ownership in the US: could it be that we are substituting cats, dogs, computers and phones for having real connections with other people?
QotD: Brits on tRump
Feb. 13th, 2019 07:17 am Copied from a friend (on fb).
This is utterly brilliant. I wish I could take credit for writing it, but no.
British wit to help get you through the nightmare:
"Someone on Quora asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote this magnificent response.
A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.
What's in a name
Dec. 8th, 2018 08:36 pmThere are lots of theories about what names do to us. The trends in the naming of babies also say things about what is happening in our culture.
It was only about a decade ago that "Noah" suddenly took the lead as top boy's name...suggesting to me that a lot of people from a Christian culture were getting worried about some great catastrophe like maybe sea level rise. Instead of thinking that your kiddos are going to suffer because of global warming, it's much more enjoyable to convince yourself that they will be saviors.
I just read that since 2015 the name "Donald" is down by 11%, whereas "Melania" is up 227% and "Ivanka" is up 362%. Guess the women in that family are more worthy.
It was only about a decade ago that "Noah" suddenly took the lead as top boy's name...suggesting to me that a lot of people from a Christian culture were getting worried about some great catastrophe like maybe sea level rise. Instead of thinking that your kiddos are going to suffer because of global warming, it's much more enjoyable to convince yourself that they will be saviors.
I just read that since 2015 the name "Donald" is down by 11%, whereas "Melania" is up 227% and "Ivanka" is up 362%. Guess the women in that family are more worthy.
QotD: neo-Marxism = social justice today
Feb. 19th, 2018 09:32 amWhenever I bemoan the culture of "safe spaces" and "microaggressions" on college campuses, said Andrew Sullivan, people argue that "the real world isn't like that." But that's no longer true. More and more of our public discourse is now shaped by the neo-Marxist Left's "identity-based, 'social justice" worldview, in which all interactions are defined by a hierarchy of power and oppression. Free speech itself is falling into disrepute, as a tool of the patriarchy. When some feminists recently got wind of a forthcoming Harper's essay criticizing the #MeToo movement, they not only personally vilified author Katie Roiphe, they also tried to force the magazine to drop the piece before publication--a "real-world echo" of students shouting down speakers. Writers, like students, now know that one "incorrect" opinion on sensitive issues of race and gender can result in "instant social ostracism" and demands they be fired--so they remain silent. Men cannot discuss sexual harassment; whites cannot talk about racism. The goal of our society is not "the emancipation of the individual," but permanent placement of the individual in the proper identity group: white, black, brown, female, gay, etc. "We used to call that bigotry. Now we call it being woke."
--Summary of Andrew Sullivan's article (NYMag.com) from The Week February 23, 2018.
--Summary of Andrew Sullivan's article (NYMag.com) from The Week February 23, 2018.
Contemporary Western postural yoga projects an authenticity and unbroken ancient heritage onto the yogic tradition, while mourning the commodification, secularization and denuding of that tradition by the West. Such lamentation belies the fact that modern postural yoga is a creature of fabrication and reinvention.
--Farah Godrej
There were formerly horizons within which people lived and thought and mythologized. There are now no more horizons. And with the dissolution of horizons we have experienced and are experiencing collisions, terrific collisions, not only of peoples but also of their mythologies. It is as when dividing panels are withdrawn from between chambers of very hot and very cold airs: there is a rush of these forces together. And so we are right now in an extremely perilous age of thunder, lightning, and hurricanes all around. I think it is improper to become hysterical about it, projecting hatred and blame. It is an inevitable, altogether natural thing that when energies that have never met before come into collision—each bearing its own pride—there should be turbulence. That is just what we are experiencing; and we are riding it: riding it to a new age, a new birth, a totally new condition of mankind—to which no one anywhere alive today can say that he has the key, the answer, the prophecy, to its dawn. Nor is there anyone to condemn here (”Judge not, that you may not be judged!”). What is occurring is completely natural, as are its pains, confusions, and mistakes.
~ Joseph Campbell, Myths To Live By
The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves.
—C. G. Jung. Collected Works Vol 9 part 2, paragraph 126.
And here I thought BLM was for the Bureau of Livestock and Mining. There is so much noise today, every day, about racism and rump. I've heard there are apps out there that will filter out all mentions of the name of our president. Not a bad idea.
People with African noses and brown skin have legitimate grievances from slavery, Jim Crow, policing and harsh inequalities in economic and incarceration statistics. So do many others. Japanese were in carcerated en mass and suffer under rediculous stereotypes. Hispanics in Arizona were terrorized by Arapaio and he got pardoned today. Jews that live all around me here in Portland are terrified at the resurgence of Nazi-ism. The natives of this continent were actively exterminated by our government and settlers, and they have a right to be mad about it. And in the midst of all this the white skinned middle-aged dudes are committing suicide both actively and passively at astounding rates.
There's plenty wrong, no doubt about that.
When I walk around the park that is in front of my house, I feel racial tension. There are blacks and hispanics walking there, but they are either in the company of a white person, or they are walking as families. Today the Latinas were in conversation and tending to the children, but the men are watching for trouble. When they see me coming, a big white woman moving fast, and they look hard. They don't nod in return. I saw a Middle Eastern family too. The women were similarly dedicated to their kids, and one man swung his keys on the end of a lanyard as if to say fuck with me and I'll take your face off with my keys.
I wish we could all just chill out. I don't think the tension will reduce until the next changing of the guard, and I hope it comes soon.
People with African noses and brown skin have legitimate grievances from slavery, Jim Crow, policing and harsh inequalities in economic and incarceration statistics. So do many others. Japanese were in carcerated en mass and suffer under rediculous stereotypes. Hispanics in Arizona were terrorized by Arapaio and he got pardoned today. Jews that live all around me here in Portland are terrified at the resurgence of Nazi-ism. The natives of this continent were actively exterminated by our government and settlers, and they have a right to be mad about it. And in the midst of all this the white skinned middle-aged dudes are committing suicide both actively and passively at astounding rates.
There's plenty wrong, no doubt about that.
When I walk around the park that is in front of my house, I feel racial tension. There are blacks and hispanics walking there, but they are either in the company of a white person, or they are walking as families. Today the Latinas were in conversation and tending to the children, but the men are watching for trouble. When they see me coming, a big white woman moving fast, and they look hard. They don't nod in return. I saw a Middle Eastern family too. The women were similarly dedicated to their kids, and one man swung his keys on the end of a lanyard as if to say fuck with me and I'll take your face off with my keys.
I wish we could all just chill out. I don't think the tension will reduce until the next changing of the guard, and I hope it comes soon.
Imagine the Stress
Jul. 1st, 2017 07:58 amI read this morning about a doctor who went mad and shot people in a hospital. As a doctor myself, I know that docs have terrible stresses trying to deal with a corrupt medical-industrial system that impairs our ability to help people regain their health. Then I went to look at the NY times article, here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/30/nyregion/bronx-hospital-shooting.html. He's richly melanated, that is to say, he has lived a life of fear because of his skin color. I infer from his violence that he may have been guilty of the accusation--sexual misconduct. He was a man, and he was angry enough to shoot others and hopeless enough to set himself on fire and shoot himself. He did not see any way out. He knew he would not receive compassion.
What people forget when they demonize any group of humans is that they are human. Dark skinned people. Doctors. Men. Gun owners. Murderers. Whatever group. All humans share the same basic needs. When those needs are not met, we have the same basic emotions. Driven hard enough, any of us could become dangerous. Hitler had reasons. The Arabs that flew airplanes into buildings had reasons. No one is pure evil, we are simply human and if tortured we can lash out, or become cunning.
My hope that that everyone who reads this will take a deep breath or three and think about the kind of pain that drives a person to such horrors. My hope is that compassion will rise in spite of the poisonous atmosphere of shame and blame that dominates our political world. We all deserve an opportunity to be free from fear, long enough to find our centers and our hearts and reach out into the world from that place. It will take a lot of us finding compassion to heal these wounds.
What people forget when they demonize any group of humans is that they are human. Dark skinned people. Doctors. Men. Gun owners. Murderers. Whatever group. All humans share the same basic needs. When those needs are not met, we have the same basic emotions. Driven hard enough, any of us could become dangerous. Hitler had reasons. The Arabs that flew airplanes into buildings had reasons. No one is pure evil, we are simply human and if tortured we can lash out, or become cunning.
My hope that that everyone who reads this will take a deep breath or three and think about the kind of pain that drives a person to such horrors. My hope is that compassion will rise in spite of the poisonous atmosphere of shame and blame that dominates our political world. We all deserve an opportunity to be free from fear, long enough to find our centers and our hearts and reach out into the world from that place. It will take a lot of us finding compassion to heal these wounds.
I'm a House Nigger
Jun. 3rd, 2017 09:42 amMaher crossed a line with his joke, but that's what comedians do. It's the taboos that make jokes funny, the fact that they refer to something that is painful or secret. The US history of enslaving Africans is not secret, but it is painful. The pain is felt by many of us, perhaps not the same for those with other colors of skin, but there is no doubt that it has marred many generations of our society. When/how will we ever get past it? Can the descendants of slavery ever forgive?
My great grandmother lived in the piedmont of North Carolina and owned a slave. Am I guilty? Should I be punished for that? I have been punished, and I'm sure I will be punished more. Do I deserve this punishment? I go out of my way to protect and include black people. Does my calling them black people make me a racist? How about brown people, red people, white people? Does my effort to be inclusive make me an ass? Is there any way for a white person to broach this subject without it being negatively received? I know I am priviledged but I am not immune to the attitudes of people around me of every description.
Racial relations get worse when people are unfairly punished. I was born with no ill will toward any group. Painful experiences in my life have led me to be wary of certain groups of people. Usually it is the people who have historically been abused who later become agressive or condescending. Jewish people have treated me badly, moreso than Blacks but some of them too have assumed that I am a racist and helped to make me into one. It is understandable, but it does not result in the whirled peas that we seek.
Those who say Maher should be fired for racism, seriously now? He did not call anyone else a nigger, he was referring to himself. His joke was on TV and showed that he understood the class system that was applied to black slaves in our nation. Who else but a comedian can publicly break taboos and get people talking about it? If we are to heal these wounds, we need to talk about it. Keeping it secret and taboo does nothing to reduce the pain. Time passing, generations shifting, that reduces the pain... but I wish we could do it faster.
This brings me to the question about words. The word nigger is apparently 100% taboo, at least for a white person to say on TV. It appears to me that it is just a word. It is not the word that I am worried about, it is the attitude. Certainly words and attitudes are linked, but it is not a 100% correlation between saying the word nigger and being a racist or promoting racism. I do not believe that Maher is a racist. I think he is trying to defuse the tensions around our dark history and get us all to laugh, together, and let the pain slip away.
What other words are taboo? I can't think of any that the two white men I live with react to as strongly. Honky? LOL.
I wish "bitch" were less acceptable. The word has been applied to me many times in my life, usually because I refused to do what a white man wanted me to do, or because I got angry. The word bitch has been used to suppress the will of a huge class of people, and it is still in common usage and acceptable in rap music and other places. I am allowed to get angry and to assert myself without deserving denigration. But women have been put down for a long time and a large segment of our population would like to keep us down. If Maher had said "I'm a bitch", I would not have been offended. That is not the same as him calling someone else a bitch.
I would like to hear from the descendants of slaves in the US as to whether they think Maher should be fired. I bet they will say no. He is doing his job, making us laugh out things that hurt.
My great grandmother lived in the piedmont of North Carolina and owned a slave. Am I guilty? Should I be punished for that? I have been punished, and I'm sure I will be punished more. Do I deserve this punishment? I go out of my way to protect and include black people. Does my calling them black people make me a racist? How about brown people, red people, white people? Does my effort to be inclusive make me an ass? Is there any way for a white person to broach this subject without it being negatively received? I know I am priviledged but I am not immune to the attitudes of people around me of every description.
Racial relations get worse when people are unfairly punished. I was born with no ill will toward any group. Painful experiences in my life have led me to be wary of certain groups of people. Usually it is the people who have historically been abused who later become agressive or condescending. Jewish people have treated me badly, moreso than Blacks but some of them too have assumed that I am a racist and helped to make me into one. It is understandable, but it does not result in the whirled peas that we seek.
Those who say Maher should be fired for racism, seriously now? He did not call anyone else a nigger, he was referring to himself. His joke was on TV and showed that he understood the class system that was applied to black slaves in our nation. Who else but a comedian can publicly break taboos and get people talking about it? If we are to heal these wounds, we need to talk about it. Keeping it secret and taboo does nothing to reduce the pain. Time passing, generations shifting, that reduces the pain... but I wish we could do it faster.
This brings me to the question about words. The word nigger is apparently 100% taboo, at least for a white person to say on TV. It appears to me that it is just a word. It is not the word that I am worried about, it is the attitude. Certainly words and attitudes are linked, but it is not a 100% correlation between saying the word nigger and being a racist or promoting racism. I do not believe that Maher is a racist. I think he is trying to defuse the tensions around our dark history and get us all to laugh, together, and let the pain slip away.
What other words are taboo? I can't think of any that the two white men I live with react to as strongly. Honky? LOL.
I wish "bitch" were less acceptable. The word has been applied to me many times in my life, usually because I refused to do what a white man wanted me to do, or because I got angry. The word bitch has been used to suppress the will of a huge class of people, and it is still in common usage and acceptable in rap music and other places. I am allowed to get angry and to assert myself without deserving denigration. But women have been put down for a long time and a large segment of our population would like to keep us down. If Maher had said "I'm a bitch", I would not have been offended. That is not the same as him calling someone else a bitch.
I would like to hear from the descendants of slaves in the US as to whether they think Maher should be fired. I bet they will say no. He is doing his job, making us laugh out things that hurt.
The Uglification of Public Life
Jun. 1st, 2017 01:32 pmThe uglification of which I speak didn't exactly start with Ailes (Fox), but he certainly boosted it. One of the hats that I wear is at a natural products pharmacy; we dispense herbs and supplements and a few hormonal products. I spend some time sitting behind the counter simply helping the next person who comes to the window. Most people are decent, kind, and even patient. But lately I've noticed a trend. The proportion of cranky, mean and abusive people is increasing.
Today it was a lady by the name of Hammer. What's in a name, I ask? Did your name make you into a prosecutor in the pharmacy line? How many hammering questions does one have to tolerate before you are satisfied? Is there an inkling of generosity in you? A morsel of patience? An ounce of kindness? I saw none. I experienced questions hammering in faster than they could be answered, demands stacked up while I was trying to answer the questions, topped with an insult. Ms Hammer is just the most recent experience of this sort. There was one yesterday, and the day before more than one. Too bad it's nice people who get cancer and not the bitches.
This is Oregon. People in general are nice here. But not the raving maniac that stabbed two men to death the other day trying to get to some young women who were a different color than him. This disease of condemnation and hatred is seeping deeper and deeper into our culture, and leaking out in more settings all the time. I do not know how to fix it. I don't believe in phony niceness, but I also don't believe in punishing people just because you can. I am sensitive and not cut out to tolerate verbal abuse in the course of my work. I try to contain my anguish until I am in private. Then I weep. I try to be kind to the people that I meet. And I may have to find a way to not serve the public any more.
In Japan they have a name for it. Hikikomori. It's a sociological phenomenon in which people simply stop participating in society. If society is ugly, then decent people will not show up. If decent people do not show up, society will uglify even more. If we all retreat into our tiny little bubbles even more than we already have, the fractures in our supposed union of states and free people becomes null and void. This culture is headed for the bloodbath.
Today it was a lady by the name of Hammer. What's in a name, I ask? Did your name make you into a prosecutor in the pharmacy line? How many hammering questions does one have to tolerate before you are satisfied? Is there an inkling of generosity in you? A morsel of patience? An ounce of kindness? I saw none. I experienced questions hammering in faster than they could be answered, demands stacked up while I was trying to answer the questions, topped with an insult. Ms Hammer is just the most recent experience of this sort. There was one yesterday, and the day before more than one. Too bad it's nice people who get cancer and not the bitches.
This is Oregon. People in general are nice here. But not the raving maniac that stabbed two men to death the other day trying to get to some young women who were a different color than him. This disease of condemnation and hatred is seeping deeper and deeper into our culture, and leaking out in more settings all the time. I do not know how to fix it. I don't believe in phony niceness, but I also don't believe in punishing people just because you can. I am sensitive and not cut out to tolerate verbal abuse in the course of my work. I try to contain my anguish until I am in private. Then I weep. I try to be kind to the people that I meet. And I may have to find a way to not serve the public any more.
In Japan they have a name for it. Hikikomori. It's a sociological phenomenon in which people simply stop participating in society. If society is ugly, then decent people will not show up. If decent people do not show up, society will uglify even more. If we all retreat into our tiny little bubbles even more than we already have, the fractures in our supposed union of states and free people becomes null and void. This culture is headed for the bloodbath.
QotD: How Tyranny Begins
Dec. 27th, 2016 02:13 pmA president intent on developing
a base of enthusiastic supporters
who believe bald-faced lies
poses a clear threat
to American democracy.
This is how tyranny begins.
--Robert Reich,
Burn it down
Nov. 26th, 2016 04:19 pmSuicidality is directly linked to a feeling of powerlessness. When there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, it's easy to lose hope, get angry, place blame, become resentful or even violent. Arson is violence, like rape. The fires in Israel and Palestine, set by both individuals with both alliegances, reflect the same spirit seen in Brexit, and the election of Trump, and the fires that have been burning in the southeastern US. I think there's some sour grapes in there too. If I can't have my fair share, you can't have any either. Arson is a quick and dirty way of gaining some power. People of planet earth are angry and frustrated, and rattling the bars of their cages. Unfortunately the actions taken are usually more emotional than rational, and the end result is a worsening of the situation that caused the loss of power in the first place. Don't like being poor? Electing a millionaire won't do you any good. Don't like living in a depressed place? Burning down the forests probably won't help.
But the thing is, is sure does feel good. It is immensely satisfying to last out, to burn something, to smash something to smithereens. When you are angry, such outbursts are therapeutic. I personally just LOVE to take the glass recycling somewhere that I can smash it bottle by bottle. I am praying (atheist prayers) that all the angry people of the world are ready to study and get clear about their true objectives. I am praying that the angry people will organize and do something productive, now that catharsis has been achieved at least in some places.
But the thing is, is sure does feel good. It is immensely satisfying to last out, to burn something, to smash something to smithereens. When you are angry, such outbursts are therapeutic. I personally just LOVE to take the glass recycling somewhere that I can smash it bottle by bottle. I am praying (atheist prayers) that all the angry people of the world are ready to study and get clear about their true objectives. I am praying that the angry people will organize and do something productive, now that catharsis has been achieved at least in some places.
Islamophobia may not be such a bad idea
Jun. 25th, 2016 02:01 pmI think this may be part of the reason that so many people have defaulted to supporting tRump. At a gut level he gets it, that somehow the religion of Islam is motivating some people to kill bunches of hedonistic rich oblivious Americans. We are The Great Satan, after all. Our women roam around half naked. We drink alcohol and eat so much that we can't get out of our chairs. The Muslims who hate us find plenty to hate. And the teachings of the religion are harsh. Unforgiving. Granted, most religions have some myths and stories that motivate hateful actions. Most religions have a few fundamentalists whose simplistic interpretations lead them to extreme beliefs and behaviors. Islam has a lot of people like that. I am certain that the followers of ISIL think that American Muslims who don't help their cause are apostates, no better than the rest of us. So given that there are quite a few Muslims who think we all deserve to die, and several at least who've been successful at violently killing Americans, being afraid of Muslims sounds kind of reasonable. If the Dems don't admit to this, and begin teaching Americans about how they've been attempting to quell the fears of peaceable Muslims in order to prevent religious based warfare, they are missing the boat. Blaming the Pulse shooting solely on easy access to guns is missing the very important point that currently there are a lot of people with this religious background who are motivated to kill. We need to study them, to understand them. They are not necessarily insane, they simply live in a different reality dictated by a different culture. There are also a lot of Americans who are not Muslim who share their distaste for gays, their disrespect for loose women, and their instinctive hatred of other races. Maybe you should be afraid.
Atul Gawande on the Mistrust of Science
Jun. 21st, 2016 09:52 pmTHE MISTRUST OF SCIENCE
By Atul Gawande , JUNE 10, 2016
The following was delivered as the commencement address at the California Institute of Technology, on Friday, June 10th.
from http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-mistrust-of-science accessed 6.21.16
( Text behind cut )Atul Gawande, a surgeon and public-health researcher, became a New Yorker staff writer in 1998.
