http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/06/hitchens-proust-questionnaire-201006
Christopher Hitchens (13 April 1949–15 December 2011) has died of esophageal cancer. He admitted in part that, staying up too late with friends smoking, drinking to keep the conversation going may have been the reason that cancer formed. Not a whole lot I can say here about this 'demigod' that has not been said before but he may not been a teacher in the classical sense but he is one to learn a great deal from.
Having a female friend who gets Cosmopolitan, I see they have many surveys but they are a little too female oriented. Combining these two threads is the topic of the link above. It is safe for work and life. If I may, in defiance to ACTA/SOPA,PIPA and take this survey myself to enjoy a mental exercise:
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Pain, misery, hunger, sickness when these things are so easily fixed in our community and world by sheer economics of needing to maintain a society where profit rules supreme.
Where would you like to live?
The future; I would like to know more about the universe, the sciences of the mind, and where we were going as a civilization. Do we prosper or something worse?
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
non-contingent happiness. Some sort of intrinsic happiness.
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
To my appetite and sometimes to my listlessness
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
The characters of Star Trek.
Who are your favorite characters in history?
That's more difficult to nail down for history usually has a lens on it. I would say the writers of our constitution, or the many unnamed, often times soldiers, through time who stood up to tyrants, theocratic leaders, and despots AND who knew they were doing a moral right.
Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
All those women who wrote under male names or anonymous
Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Evey in V for Vendetta, Star Trek Heroins especially Uhura for a female character in a technical role that commanded respect and not subservience.
Your favorite painter?
If I can abuse the openness of the question I would say Bill Watterson, even though he may be more of an animator.
Your favorite musician?
How do I pick just one? In my teenage years the one group that was most influential for me was Korn.
The quality you most admire in a man?
Not being afraid to fail, while not possessing arrogance but still not being submissive to the thoughts of others.
The quality you most admire in a woman?
The same as above but with the seemingly innate sense to take care for one another.
Your favorite virtue?
Honesty, in life and in truth
Your least favorite virtue, or nominee for the most overrated one?
Like Hitchens', faith. and piety.
Your proudest achievement?
I'll Let you know when I find one remarkable.
Your favorite occupation?
One that you can earn money on your owns terms. I have not found it yet.
Who would you have liked to be?
The US president after Sept. 11th 2001. I would hope I would have had the strength to differ in the course we took for this nation in nearly every regards. Especially so in how we have wasted our respect in the world that took so many years to build up.
Your most marked characteristic?
Internally; question everything. Externally; my height.
What do you most value in your friends?
The will to challenge me in a positive way.
What is your principal defect?
Intolerance of bad ideas or perceived stupidity
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
Living a life not worth dying for.
What would you like to be?
Free of daily physical pain in the chronic sense
What is your favorite color?
Clear
What is your favorite flower?
The tulip or possibly the Iris
What is your favorite bird?
The Mallard
What word or expression do you most overuse?
Expressions of frustration and/or disbelief, although feel I may not be at fault.
Who are your favorite poets?
Song writers. Vague I know but the marrying of music with words moves me the most. Pink Floyd for instance.
What is it you most dislike?
Myself sometimes. The monetary system.
Which historical figures do you most despise?
The Stalins, Pol Pots, Maos and Che Guevaras, the REAl bastards
Which contemporary figures do you most despise?
The Jerry Falwells of the world, Pat Robertson
Which events in military history do you most admire?
The desperate ones in retreat. The English Expeditionary Force in WW2 for instance. Its history combined with an emotion.
Which natural gift would you most like to possess?
Oration in front of many strangers.
How would you like to die?
At a ripe age and with as little pain as possible.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I'm balding with glasses and fat which makes it hard to choose
What is your motto?
Paralysis through analysis
How would you do?
Thank you.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Some inane ramblings......
.....which may have a semblance of an actual point.
"When the poet stands at nadir the world must indeed be upside-down. If the poet can no longer speak for society, but only for himself, then we are at the last ditch.”— Excerpt from, The Time of the Assassins
By what measurement, in what amount, would we have, what constitutes free will? By what paradigm do our brains occupy, that would be an indication that we have such a thing? Is our free will injured? It would seem to me that free will also falls under the umbrella as free choice as well as free thought.
"When the poet stands at nadir the world must indeed be upside-down. If the poet can no longer speak for society, but only for himself, then we are at the last ditch.”— Excerpt from, The Time of the Assassins
By what measurement, in what amount, would we have, what constitutes free will? By what paradigm do our brains occupy, that would be an indication that we have such a thing? Is our free will injured? It would seem to me that free will also falls under the umbrella as free choice as well as free thought.
Lets take a classic example of a duality which interferes which such notions; capitalist vs communist. At their most elemental neither are necessarily evil. Certainly in the practical workings one may be "better" than the other but is it really this way? We can talk about poor leaders and abuses in the system but that is not the core argument I'm trying to make. How much do these systems interfere with our ability to be "free" of coercion is. Coercion defined as the act of compelling by force or authority.
Authority seems to be a central part in an institution or systems ability to function. The more authority over a person or group the more power it possess for its own purpose. Every systems central function would be to hold authority over, in the least a !part! of your mind and the larger the piece the better. "If it were not for Democracy, you would not have freedom and then you'd be a communist." A small example on how insidious and how innocent even, a comment can begin to control your thinking.
How many times in your life have you taken one of your most closely held beliefs and questioned it? Have you ever sought out a person who held an opposing belief? Have you ever questioned American exceptionalism? Maybe you didn't know there was such a thing? Political party, religion, monetary systems, governmental policy ect, have no such thing as an objectively correct basis with which to declare an authority. Take time to ask yourself; The ideals that I hold true, have I actually agreed to them or acquiesced to them? I see that there is a massive and detailed difference between those two states we inhabit.
Another way we can look at how vulnerable we are to various states and level of indoctrination we're under is a game of word association to emotion. What is it you feel emotionally when I say the words Muslim, Christian, Atheist or Democrat, republican, occupy wall street. How guarded do you feel when someone else wants to vote for Obama or Mitt Romney. Politics is easy to counter; we can argue all day who is better or what candidate is repugnant but step outside of the insane hurricane and we can all agree that there is something very, very wrong with the system as a whole.
I guess my point is that "Is this the best we can do, only if it is only for our self?"
We would like to call it objectivity but I do not envision on how we can have such a thing. The world is so insidious in its indoctrination's from birth, not to mention our inadequacy to have all the facts at hand how can we have free thought at all? Being a contrarian may not be so bad after all.
In ending: “In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay.
And unless it wants to break faith with its social function,
art must show the world as changeable.
And help to change it."
~ Ernst Fischer
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
n/a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92OV3RbU3ek <------click, safe for work/life
In this country right now, we have created a nightmare of corruption. IF and I say again IF we as a people ever overcome this horrible, terrible system we have not only allowed to happen but helped to create it, we will tell our children stories of this horror of a political system. I would put forward to you that our system is 100% corrupt. Money in politics, corporate lobby's, the federal reserve, and a lack luster education system have shaped our view and taken away the little bit of true free choice we ever had. The powers that be (with our ignorance and sometimes blessing) have shaped the argument, controlled our media, and tried to intellectually clobber anyone who even suggests that they have a different opinion or get their news from another source, eg; AlJazzera.
The last best hope that we have left is Ron Paul for president. There is no other way now. The poor and middle class have their backs against the wall and its very probable that the system will begin to slit our throats and create a serfdom. Case in point student loans and the Columbia university scandal.
Oh and why oh why do we make pilots go through the backscatter scanner and pat downs. They have a gun and the cockpit already, how much more power to cause harm might they have?!
In this country right now, we have created a nightmare of corruption. IF and I say again IF we as a people ever overcome this horrible, terrible system we have not only allowed to happen but helped to create it, we will tell our children stories of this horror of a political system. I would put forward to you that our system is 100% corrupt. Money in politics, corporate lobby's, the federal reserve, and a lack luster education system have shaped our view and taken away the little bit of true free choice we ever had. The powers that be (with our ignorance and sometimes blessing) have shaped the argument, controlled our media, and tried to intellectually clobber anyone who even suggests that they have a different opinion or get their news from another source, eg; AlJazzera.
The last best hope that we have left is Ron Paul for president. There is no other way now. The poor and middle class have their backs against the wall and its very probable that the system will begin to slit our throats and create a serfdom. Case in point student loans and the Columbia university scandal.
Oh and why oh why do we make pilots go through the backscatter scanner and pat downs. They have a gun and the cockpit already, how much more power to cause harm might they have?!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
zomg
I can't remmember where I found this or who to credit but here it is:
25 Rules for Being a Republican
1) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you are millionaire conservative radio jock, which makes it an "illness" and needs our prayers for your "recovery."
2) You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3) You have to believe that the US should get out of the UN, and that our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against Iraq.
4) You have to believe that government should stay out of people's lives but it needs to punish anyone caught having private sex with the "wrong" gender.
5) You have to believe that pollution is ok, so long as it makes a profit.
6) You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.
7) "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
8) You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever.
9) You have to believe that you love Jesus and Jesus loves you, and that Jesus shares your hatred of AIDS victims, homosexuals, and Hillary Clinton.
10) You hate the ALCU for representing convicted felons, but they owed it to the country to bail out Oliver North.
11) You have to believe that the best way to encourage military morale is to praise the troops overseas while cutting their VA benefits.
12) You believe that group sex and drug use are degenerate sins that can only be purged by running for governor of California as a Republican.
13) You have to believe it is wise to keep condoms out of schools, because we all know if teenagers don't have condoms they won't have sex.
14) You have to believe that the best way to fight terrorism is to alienate our allies and then demand their cooperation and money.
15) You have to believe that government medicine is wrong and that HMOs and insurance companies only have your best interests at heart.
16) You have to believe that providing health care to all Iraqis is sound government policy but providing health care to all Americans is socialism personified.
17) You believe that tobacco's link to cancer and global warming are "junk science", but Creationism should be taught in schools.
18) You have to believe that waging war with no exit strategy was wrong in Vietnam but right in Iraq.
19) You have to believe that Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney was doing business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
20) You believe that government should restrict itself to just the powers named in the Constitution, which includes banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
21) You have to believe that the public has a right to know about the adulterous affairs of Democrats, while those of Republicans are a "private matter".
22) You have to believe that the public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades but that Bush was right to censor those 28 pages from the Congressional 9/11 report because you just can't handle the truth.
23) You support state rights, which means Ashcroft telling states what locally passed voter initiatives he will allow them to have.
24) You have to believe that what Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest but what Bush did decades later is "stale news" and "irrelevant".
25) You have to believe that trade with Cuba is wrong because it is communist, but trading with China and Vietnam is just dandy.
25 Rules for Being a Republican
1) Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you are millionaire conservative radio jock, which makes it an "illness" and needs our prayers for your "recovery."
2) You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own.
3) You have to believe that the US should get out of the UN, and that our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against Iraq.
4) You have to believe that government should stay out of people's lives but it needs to punish anyone caught having private sex with the "wrong" gender.
5) You have to believe that pollution is ok, so long as it makes a profit.
6) You have to believe in prayer in schools, as long as you don't pray to Allah or Buddha.
7) "Standing Tall for America" means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.
8) You have to believe that a woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but that large multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind with no regulation whatsoever.
9) You have to believe that you love Jesus and Jesus loves you, and that Jesus shares your hatred of AIDS victims, homosexuals, and Hillary Clinton.
10) You hate the ALCU for representing convicted felons, but they owed it to the country to bail out Oliver North.
11) You have to believe that the best way to encourage military morale is to praise the troops overseas while cutting their VA benefits.
12) You believe that group sex and drug use are degenerate sins that can only be purged by running for governor of California as a Republican.
13) You have to believe it is wise to keep condoms out of schools, because we all know if teenagers don't have condoms they won't have sex.
14) You have to believe that the best way to fight terrorism is to alienate our allies and then demand their cooperation and money.
15) You have to believe that government medicine is wrong and that HMOs and insurance companies only have your best interests at heart.
16) You have to believe that providing health care to all Iraqis is sound government policy but providing health care to all Americans is socialism personified.
17) You believe that tobacco's link to cancer and global warming are "junk science", but Creationism should be taught in schools.
18) You have to believe that waging war with no exit strategy was wrong in Vietnam but right in Iraq.
19) You have to believe that Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney was doing business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.
20) You believe that government should restrict itself to just the powers named in the Constitution, which includes banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.
21) You have to believe that the public has a right to know about the adulterous affairs of Democrats, while those of Republicans are a "private matter".
22) You have to believe that the public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades but that Bush was right to censor those 28 pages from the Congressional 9/11 report because you just can't handle the truth.
23) You support state rights, which means Ashcroft telling states what locally passed voter initiatives he will allow them to have.
24) You have to believe that what Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest but what Bush did decades later is "stale news" and "irrelevant".
25) You have to believe that trade with Cuba is wrong because it is communist, but trading with China and Vietnam is just dandy.
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