Displaying 421 To 450 Of 3,373 Comments The Personal Journal of Osama Bin Laden, Vol. 2 Brilliant again, AD! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 9, 2011 @ 6:17 pm thanks, cap’n! If the election were held today, she would certainly lose. And as more people find out about her, she will probably fade on the Republican side. But, if she doesn’t, if she captures the Republican nomination, circumstances that are always unkind to incumbents could result in her actually unseating the president. Maybe not all that likely, but likely enough to give one pause. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 11:02 pm The majority of Americans seem to side with politicians the way they do with athletes and movie stars. They invest in them emotionally, rather than appraise their policies rationally. It’s scary but plausible that Michelle Bachmann may become our next president. To many people, she is “one of us”, a fundamentalist Christian, patriotic (in the most blind and stereotypical way), with a good story to tell about God guiding her to seek office. They trust her and identify her, and will ignore or disregard her shortcomings. The votes she gets will be based on these feelings, rather than actual consideration about what her presidency would look like. Part of the problem is education. We need to educate citizens more about what policies translate into for them. Part of it is the media. Who am I kidding, MOST of it is the media! People are dazed, distracted, and confused. And a big part of it is just plain old disillusionment with government and politicians. When politicians go back, as they so often do, even on the simple and easily understandable promises they make to get elected, people just assume they will do it on the more complex things. So why even educate oneself, when it’s boring and takes so much time and asks so much of ones brain after a hard day at the factory or office? The TV is there to make things right. By the way, I love that illustration so much, please allow me to reproduce my own homage to it in referencing the Tea Party, from a post of mine a while back. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 9:03 pm Lots of depressing stuff in The Planet today, but the restrictions specifically placed on abortion centers, in order to close them down, just about takes the cake. How can such a thing even be legal? I am truly mystified by so much of what is going on at a state level nowadays. These are Dark Times. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 6:50 am I think many people have felt that experience. It is not limited to the religious, clearly. And the astronauts, looking at earth, seem to have been deeply moved by the sight of it, even though I imagine some of them were atheists. They were looking at Gaia, the largest “living organism” we know of, and that must have been awesome beyond description. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 11:06 pm of course we are, and do! You and I are on the same wavelength about this, my new friend! » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 11:04 pm most definitely. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 11:03 pm Hi, Cher! I know what you mean about silence, and stars. For many of us, seeing the Milky Way is a very rare occurrence, whereas most of our ancestors saw it nearly every clear night. Yes, yes yes, about baring one’s feet and walking along grass and stones! I love to do that. I climb trees too! Taking off your shoes and climbing a massive tree with grasping hands and feet is a really enjoyable experience, great exercise, and not for the faint hearted! Going down is harder than going up, so one ends up in some pretty precarious positions sometimes. But feeling a strong wind cause a tree to sway, while clinging on to one of its solid branches, is a fantastic experience. Being an animal is not such a bad thing, is it? 🙂 » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 5:42 am PW, I feel that one of the truly sad things about our species is that we have become so “successful” that we now have millions of “extra” people, who have no clear sense of what their purpose in life is. In tribes, everyone is necessary in order for the tribe to survive. But in modern culture, we have aimlessness, addiction, and WAY too much time spent in front of the TV, because people are just filling time. I think in smaller communities, as you mentioned earlier, there would be less of that. I really enjoyed reading “Walden Two” by B.F. Skinner, when I was in my twenties. It may not be a perfect solution, but it was Skinner’s attempt to illustrate the best living situation for humans, and it involved very small communities. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 2:44 pm Thanks for the comments, e-cat, and good to see you. I try to involve myself with animals even here in this neck of the megalopolis. I have Rosie, first and foremost. There are a couple of friendly strays that I give some much needed cuddle time to. They are obviously once domestic pets that were abandoned because they need the “skinship”. One comes up to me and plops on my lap without any hesitation at all, and complains when I leave. There is a family of frogs nearby, and I admit I let Rosie bother them sometimes. I wouldn’t if she bit, but she just likes to nudge them and roll them over and stuff. I know they hate it, but I also want to give her a chance to behave like an animal, rather than a hopelessly spoiled pet, sometimes. In the morning I have lovely birdsongs. In the evening, the bats come out and flutter about. Down by the river there are enormous carp, snakes, etc. And beautiful waterfowl such as great blue heron. So not all of Tokyo is totally urban and completely de-animalized. But, nevertheless, way too much so. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 2:39 pm It’s wonderful and delightful to hear about the wilderness experiences of PW and Ques. I am really happy that some of my Planeteer friends are able to have such deep and satisfying connections with other species. When I wrote, I wasn’t referring as much to those of us who are able to blog, and actually do have some opportunity to engage with nature if we choose to. I think what Q is doing now is absolutely wonderful (!) and I’m very happy to hear that PW is able to play “get back Honky Cat” and get back to the woods. I was referring to us more as a species than a nation. I’m thinking more of the poor of our way too big cities in developed countries, in Jakarta, Cairo, Calcutta,Manila, etc. These are ones for whom no such options exist, the most forlorn victims of “The Lonely Ape Syndrome”. I so agree with PW. How we should live in smaller communities. Although I love Tokyo, I am certain that if I ever manage to make a name for myself as an artist/writer and reach a level where I can pretty much live wherever I want, I will seek out areas like Q and PW describe. But for so many of us humans, that is not even remotely possible. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 6:25 am Hi jkk, haven’t seen you here in a while. Busy with the move, I assume? Florida is an ecosystem (or assortment of ones) that has been completely clobbered by human settlement. I am sorry to hear about the citrus growers – hard to imagine Florida without oranges. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 1:44 am beautiful, KT. And it reminds me of a snippet of verses from Auden: “That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course About coyotes: I was really surprised to hear my friend who lives in Hilliard saying he can hear them baying at night. I never thought of them as living in Ohio, so I looked it up and found out they have migrated eastward, as you say. They are obviously very resilient; it is far more tragic to think of the species that were not able to adapt to our infiltration. I think we look upon this in nearly identical ways, and I appreciate your thoughts and comments. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 1:41 am Interesting, funny and wise (as always), mon capitan! I think the reason children are so fascinated by animals has precisely to do with what I’m writing about. Children are much closer to their own animal nature and at some level are probably a bit puzzled, subconsciously, about how lonely our human world has become. As we get older, the modern, de-animalized world just gets more and more “natural” to us, to the point where some people become completely indifferent to our fellow species. As for pets, as you say, we imagine we “know” them, but there are parts of their world we know nothing about. We look at our dog, sitting there on the floor, probably wondering when the next food opportunity will arrive. However, meanwhile, they are smelling things we don’t even have words for, and hearing sounds a block away. When it comes to creatures in the wild, most of us know next to nothing about them, when our ancestors HAD to know their habits and tendencies. Somehow we need to reconnect to that. Thank for the reminder about camping, too. I haven’t been out in the woods in far too long a time. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 27, 2011 @ 6:11 pm Hi Ad. I certainly agree we are a species like no other, and are capable of shaping nature to our needs. The desalinization machine you mentioned is a great illustration of that. But I just don’t think we are capable of taking ourselves out of the biosphere completely and starting over. We’re not THAT good, I believe. We seem to imagine that when a man and women copulate and the woman becomes pregnant, the woman’s body all by itself is capable of bringing out a full, healthy baby. I don’t believe so. All the time her body is pulling in energy and sustenance from the biosphere that billions upon billions of creatures are contributing to. If we were to build space colonies, as you wrote about earlier, I think you would soon have stillborns and babies with fatal birth defects. There wouldn’t be enough LIFE around for a woman to bring a child to term. But all of this is open for discussion and opining. I’m really glad you took the time to read what I wrote, and even more glad that you took the time to write your lengthy and thoughtful comments. I really value your input. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 27, 2011 @ 5:00 pm The Radical Chic Pay Lip Service to the Poor Hi c-lady. Fair enough, and there is certainly justification for the anger. But anger can be expressed in positive ways, or in ways that merely add to the Anger Bank. “the real issues can be lost, over-ridden, distorted, irrelevant to solutions that really help. We can’t even tell their stories correctly.” I feel that you may as well be writing about Marion’s typical pieces. Me, being far from perfect, am more likely to close my mind rather than open it when I see someone being trashed unfairly. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 29, 2011 @ 3:01 pm wow, so they literally believe the saying, “devil take the hindmost” even if the hindmost is 98% of the world. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 29, 2011 @ 2:44 pm c-lady, I understand all that you are saying, but still frankly don’t see how any of that “agrees” with this piece we are commenting on. The whole point of the article seems to be that, a.) the author knows poor people, and Marion doesn’t stop at criticizing the subjects of her articles; she maligns and trashes them. In most cases, their most egregious offense seems to be some critical (NOT maligning) comments they have made about the president at some point. I spend, some would say waste, a lot of time criticizing many of Marion’s posts, and this is the reason. I just don’t think it is responsible writing to set out to flay the people we write about. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 10:56 pm I know the feeling, Sue. Of all the advanced economies of the world, the American one most closely resembles that of the kleptocracies and banana republics of this world. In Japan, where I live, the under-top-ten percent of the country hold twice as much of the country’s assets as in the U.S. I’m pretty sure that throughout most of Europe, you’ll find similar numbers. People in most countries WANT to belong to societies where fairness and concern prevail. Of course they do! What is wrong with us that so many of us want to live in a Neo-Darwinian dystopia of winner take all? » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 10:28 pm Very true, Sue. A permanent class of malnourished, chronically unemployed is forming before our very eyes. “It can’t happen here” is happening here. By design. It’s what the Republicans are trying to achieve. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 3:16 pm Way to go, Buddy! I myself was about to point out that with all the “probably”s in this article I could build a bridge somewhere. When you have to use that many “probably”s to describe a person, it’s a good sign that you don’t know a ding durn thing about them. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 28, 2011 @ 7:07 am Exactly! Just like they don’t remake Pinnochio or The Wizard of Oz. Just watch the originals! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 30, 2011 @ 10:49 pm I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 30, 2011 @ 7:03 am Weekend Music Thread – Love and Marriage The Who, “A Legal Matter”
» Posted By whatsthatsound On June 25, 2011 @ 6:43 pm A History of Evolutionary Theory No, KT. Socrates taught Plato, who taught Aristotle, who taught Alexander (the Great). » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 23, 2011 @ 4:34 pm Terrific work, AD! Thanks! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 23, 2011 @ 6:39 am WATCH LIVE: Pres. Obama’s Speech on Afghanistan That’s true, Buddy, there will always be major problems. With Israel, the problems have never stopped. Even in the Ellis Island days, there were major problems and a HUGE amount of opposition, some of which came from folks who would make the Tea Baggers look like the International Friendship Society. It’s a matter of doing it, or not doing it. A way can always be found and opposition will always rise. But here’s the thing. I’m just some artist in Tokyo who came up with that idea on the nudge from bito to present a solution. Imagine an American president, who has scores of staffers willing to work sixteen hours a day, access to research institutes, some containing professors who have waited their whole LIVES for a call from the White House saying, “We understand you have some peaceful solutions to share”. Imagine the energy that could be put into motion merely by a president calling his subordinates together and saying, “I want a viable non-military course laid out. The American people deserve no less.” Like Adonai says, there HAS to be another way. It’s a matter of will and commitment. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 23, 2011 @ 9:37 pm So many harrowing stories like that one, Sally. Yes, I thought about mentioning the Vietnamese relocation as well, but because I think this would necessarily be a much larger undertaking I stayed with the two examples above. By the way, if I could have given you two thumbs up instead of one for your lengthy, wise and heartfelt comment above, I would have. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 23, 2011 @ 3:10 pm We sure as heck would! This is what an enlightened, non-militaristic country would do. It’s not like there aren’t precedents. 100 years ago we brought in millions of people from all over the world. Resettling Afghans who want to come here would be a much smaller project than either of those. Paraphrasing the president’s speech, it is OUR economy that needs to move from one “shaped by war” to one that can “sustain a lasting peace”. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 23, 2011 @ 2:49 pm My favorite part of the speech was when he said, “move from a country shaped by war to one that can sustain a lasting peace”. My only quibble with it is that he was talking about Afghanistan. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 23, 2011 @ 1:58 pmComments Posted By whatsthatsound
You can tell how much fun you’re having with this.
Ten stars, natch.
As for me, I’m not sure I’ve ever actually seen a wild animal larger than myself more than one or two times in my whole life.
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree. ”
When you write,
Unbelievable.
b.) the person she is writing about doesn’t, nor does she care about them, reaaally.
Oh, and c.) she has never been to the poor neighborhoods of Paris, London or her home city, New York, and wouldn’t be caught dead there, although no evidence for this is shown.
Israel was created because Europe was not a safe place for the Jewish people to live.
And a MUCH smaller project than our endless multi-billion dollar military escapades and archipelago of military bases all over the world.
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