this blog develops the idea that a theory of man in history can be worked out around the theme that man's self expression in culture and society is motivated by the desire to find meaning in man's existence. i proceed by summarizing seminal works that provide insights into the dynamics of this process, with the view that the culmination of this exploration was reached with god's self revelation in jesus. i'll hopefully also explore the developments that followed this event.
The only ones who pay any attention to this are the earnest young mothers with a child in their basket, brows furrowed, whom I once saw clogging the aisles as they read intently the labels on cans at Whole Foods.
I gave nutritious, virtuous Whole Foods a try. Purchased a basket of luscious-looking, perfect cherry tomatoes. For a price. At home, I went to remove them and found the entire center of the basket to be full of black mold. That is not part of our diet. That was the end of WF for me...
O/T, but quite apropos for New Years, is Zman crowing about his correct prediction on "Now, the big hit was the Barr stuff. It is amazing, how so many people thought something would happen with that charade, for so long. When Trump brought Barr in, it seemed like something would happen, but it quickly became clear, that it was just another coverup. Barr was brought in, to make sure the truth of the FBI corruption never saw the light of day. You have to wonder, if Trump was too stupid to see what was happening, or that he signed off on it, despite his tweets."
In fairness to a lot of people, including myself, Barr talked a very good line. Beginning with his NYT attack on Hillary, followed by his legal memo attacking Mueller, then his overseas trips to obtain the Mifsud phones, etc. His lifelong dedication to defending the presidency from the rest of government also made sense of an honest effort on his part. So, as for your Zman, it's easy to be cynical; and a broken clock is always right twice a day.
At the time, who would have been a better choice than Barr? I rejoiced. And then I saw him perform, like a clueless clown, with his bagpipes, in front of the organization he was supposed to LEAD. It was unbelievable. Imagine what Trump thought. OMG.
That's a really foolish statement. Barr performed at an event at which the very famous NYPD Emerald Society pipe band opened the proceedings. It was a very big hit with LE people and prosecutors in attendance.
Mark, indeed, Barr talked a *very* good line, incl. about Fireworks after Labor Day, which turned out to be farts in the wind. Once Dems saw that he was all bark, they knew that they could stuff ballot boxes w/ impunity. And, once Biden gets in, the DS will be able to tee off on the Dems foes, w/ impunity. And, evidently, Barr didn't care.
I have no inside information, so (like the rest of us, I suppose) I'm just guessing.
Based on early indications, Barr seemed to think there was enough wrongdoing in connection with Crossfire Hurricane to formally and publicly ask Durham to look into it. He subsequently must have concluded there was enough prosecutorial misconduct in connection with the Flynn case to ask Jeff Jensen to look into it, and then to move to dismiss the prosecution.
Sometime late this summer or early fall, his active approach to seeking justice related to FBI, Democrat and/or Deep State wrongdoing seemed to change.
Durham never brought prosecutions (except for Clinesmith), the Flynn case became mired in Sullivan's rope-a-dope delay tactics, and the FBI and DoJ never took any active steps to forestall election fraud, notwithstanding substantial likelihood that it was coming. After the election, Barr became embarrassingly inert, at the same time the Supreme Court went dark, and then he 'resigned'.
Experience and common sense tell us something (big) has changed. I just don't think anyone (present company included) knows what it is.
ZMan’s cynicism is legendary. I finally gave him up as a regular stop a few years ago because he was stuck in his own navel where he kept The Only Truth. He radiates a sort of faux intellectuality that becomes ponderous.
Police and firefighters love the bagpipes. They are a feature at every parade and every funeral for their members. Many mock the pipes, not knowing that pipers accompanied the highland warriors who were some of the most fierce ever. The pipes were their call to battle, to charge….
Back to Orwell etc., see Sailer today, on a paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, about how you want to stay very far, far away from “virtuous victim signalers”.
As a Unz reader puts it, "They’d better retract this paper fast, before they get cancelled. Or something worse…" See: https://www.unz.com/isteve/individuals-with-dark-triad-traits-machiavellianism-narcissism-psychopathy-more-frequently-signal-virtuous-victimhood/ .
I don't think Barr didn't care, understandably, he just ran out of gas. Apparently, with so many working against him in the DOJ there just wasn't enough fire in the belly to go it alone. Isn't he in his late 60's or 70's? PT is a rare exception at his age - energy and fire to spare. Yes, I'm disappointed in Barr's results too, but a Sysiphus situation with little prospect for success is always a candle in the dark with a stiff breeze. I "hope" PT can pull this one off....yet reality, good or bad, will have to be accepted at some point.
I sincerely Barr has a calm and restful remainder of his days. No hard feelings.
"He radiates a sort of faux intellectuality that becomes ponderous."
Ever wise and deeply impressed by his own remarkable insight which is ever vague until after the fact. Tiresome superciliousness. It's like getting your fortune from one of those Lion's Club gum machines that were ubiquitous when I was a kid. Drop in a nickel, a tiny piece of paper pops out saying "something good is coming your way" followed by a gum ball. Except back then you at least got the gumball. Tom S.
On Zman, yeah, a broken clock is always right twice a day, but, for all my reservations about his superciliousness, the 2 things he got right this year were biggies: Barr, and the lockdowns.
"Anyone who has been around women in a crisis, has observed a strange phenomenon among *childless* adult females. Some switch gets flipped in a crisis, where their protective instincts get *misdirected* at the adults in the room.... This virus scare is every middle-aged women’s Hunger Games moment."
Of course, it was supercilious, for him to say this about *every* middle-aged woman, but he got the broad trend right, that the lockdowns would deserve to be called, as he put it, "The Great Madness".
His post on The Great Madness was back in March, when most everyone was still falling for The Pitch. So, hothead that he is, he's still worth a daily look, rather like Denninger.
“Every" is a pretty broad brush stroke… Should we be saying every man is a misogynist? Both are patently inaccurate and unfair to the good guys, female and male.
Someone at CNN woke up and realized that was not a good headline. It has been modified at the source. Babies and toddlers gave a sigh of relief...
ReplyDeleteJonathan Swift can cease rotating in his grave.
DeleteAfter reading two paragraphs, my stomach started complaining with a feeling of puke. Then I scrolled up and noticed "CNN".
ReplyDeleteIt is written in a totalitarian style.
Exactly.
DeleteThe story body itself is pretty Orwellian when you read it:
ReplyDelete"Used by health care professionals and policymakers, the guidelines dictate much of what Americans of all ages will eat"
Just read that sentence. Do you think the writer even realizes how that sounds?
And when you realize how much government guidelines on diet have already done over the decades ...
DeleteYes, it's like Fauci lying to us for--supposedly--our own good.
The only ones who pay any attention to this are the earnest young mothers with a child in their basket, brows furrowed, whom I once saw clogging the aisles as they read intently the labels on cans at Whole Foods.
DeleteI gave nutritious, virtuous Whole Foods a try. Purchased a basket of luscious-looking, perfect cherry tomatoes. For a price. At home, I went to remove them and found the entire center of the basket to be full of black mold. That is not part of our diet. That was the end of WF for me...
The lovely CNN, educating there readers vs informing them as always.
ReplyDeleteThat is about all anyone need to understand for critical thinking to take off but it's apparently one hell of a steep leaning curve!
O/T, but quite apropos for New Years, is Zman crowing about his correct prediction on
ReplyDelete"Now, the big hit was the Barr stuff. It is amazing, how so many people thought something would happen with that charade, for so long.
When Trump brought Barr in, it seemed like something would happen, but it quickly became clear, that it was just another coverup.
Barr was brought in, to make sure the truth of the FBI corruption never saw the light of day.
You have to wonder, if Trump was too stupid to see what was happening, or that he signed off on it, despite his tweets."
In fairness to a lot of people, including myself, Barr talked a very good line. Beginning with his NYT attack on Hillary, followed by his legal memo attacking Mueller, then his overseas trips to obtain the Mifsud phones, etc. His lifelong dedication to defending the presidency from the rest of government also made sense of an honest effort on his part. So, as for your Zman, it's easy to be cynical; and a broken clock is always right twice a day.
DeleteAt the time, who would have been a better choice than Barr? I rejoiced. And then I saw him perform, like a clueless clown, with his bagpipes, in front of the organization he was supposed to LEAD. It was unbelievable. Imagine what Trump thought. OMG.
DeleteThat's a really foolish statement. Barr performed at an event at which the very famous NYPD Emerald Society pipe band opened the proceedings. It was a very big hit with LE people and prosecutors in attendance.
DeleteMark, indeed, Barr talked a *very* good line, incl. about Fireworks after Labor Day, which turned out to be farts in the wind.
DeleteOnce Dems saw that he was all bark, they knew that they could stuff ballot boxes w/ impunity.
And, once Biden gets in, the DS will be able to tee off on the Dems foes, w/ impunity.
And, evidently, Barr didn't care.
Barr's (non-)Fireworks will likely deserve to go down, as the most crucial broken vow in US history.
DeleteI have no inside information, so (like the rest of us, I suppose) I'm just guessing.
DeleteBased on early indications, Barr seemed to think there was enough wrongdoing in connection with Crossfire Hurricane to formally and publicly ask Durham to look into it. He subsequently must have concluded there was enough prosecutorial misconduct in connection with the Flynn case to ask Jeff Jensen to look into it, and then to move to dismiss the prosecution.
Sometime late this summer or early fall, his active approach to seeking justice related to FBI, Democrat and/or Deep State wrongdoing seemed to change.
Durham never brought prosecutions (except for Clinesmith), the Flynn case became mired in Sullivan's rope-a-dope delay tactics, and the FBI and DoJ never took any active steps to forestall election fraud, notwithstanding substantial likelihood that it was coming. After the election, Barr became embarrassingly inert, at the same time the Supreme Court went dark, and then he 'resigned'.
Experience and common sense tell us something (big) has changed. I just don't think anyone (present company included) knows what it is.
Yeah, tragically, this stuff about "bagpipes" detracted, from serious people taking the (since- vindicated) CTH case vs. Barr seriously.
DeleteZMan’s cynicism is legendary. I finally gave him up as a regular stop a few years ago because he was stuck in his own navel where he kept The Only Truth. He radiates a sort of faux intellectuality that becomes ponderous.
DeletePolice and firefighters love the bagpipes. They are a feature at every parade and every funeral for their members. Many mock the pipes, not knowing that pipers accompanied the highland warriors who were some of the most fierce ever. The pipes were their call to battle, to charge….
DeleteBack to Orwell etc., see Sailer today, on a paper in
Deletethe Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, about how you want to stay very far, far away from “virtuous victim signalers”.
As a Unz reader puts it,
"They’d better retract this paper fast, before they get cancelled. Or something worse…"
See: https://www.unz.com/isteve/individuals-with-dark-triad-traits-machiavellianism-narcissism-psychopathy-more-frequently-signal-virtuous-victimhood/ .
I don't think Barr didn't care, understandably, he just ran out of gas. Apparently, with so many working against him in the DOJ there just wasn't enough fire in the belly to go it alone. Isn't he in his late 60's or 70's? PT is a rare exception at his age - energy and fire to spare. Yes, I'm disappointed in Barr's results too, but a Sysiphus
Deletesituation with little prospect for success is always a candle in the dark with a stiff breeze.
I "hope" PT can pull this one off....yet reality, good or bad, will have to be accepted at some point.
I sincerely Barr has a calm and restful remainder of his days. No hard feelings.
I have a new post up.
Delete@ aNanyMouse
DeleteI LOLed at that this morning and thought of lifting it. Hilarious:
"In our first three studies, we show that the virtuous victim signal can facilitate nonreciprocal resource transfer from others to the signaler."
And Sailer:
Watch out for the Woke, they’re out to pick your pocket.
Cass, yeah, something (big) likely changed, from e.g. the bad guys stumbling into e.g. pillow talk, about e.g. Epstein, Seth Rich, Awan Bros., etc.?
Delete@ Bebe
Delete"He radiates a sort of faux intellectuality that becomes ponderous."
Ever wise and deeply impressed by his own remarkable insight which is ever vague until after the fact. Tiresome superciliousness. It's like getting your fortune from one of those Lion's Club gum machines that were ubiquitous when I was a kid. Drop in a nickel, a tiny piece of paper pops out saying "something good is coming your way" followed by a gum ball. Except back then you at least got the gumball.
Tom S.
On Zman, yeah, a broken clock is always right twice a day, but, for all my reservations about his superciliousness, the 2 things he got right this year were biggies: Barr, and the lockdowns.
Delete"Anyone who has been around women in a crisis, has observed a strange phenomenon among *childless* adult females.
Some switch gets flipped in a crisis, where their protective instincts get *misdirected* at the adults in the room....
This virus scare is every middle-aged women’s Hunger Games moment."
Of course, it was supercilious, for him to say this about *every* middle-aged woman, but he got the broad trend right, that the lockdowns would deserve to be called, as he put it, "The Great Madness".
His post on The Great Madness was back in March, when most everyone was still falling for The Pitch.
DeleteSo, hothead that he is, he's still worth a daily look, rather like Denninger.
Yowzers--that's good, alright. But, hey, do me a favor and proofread your comments, will ya? Women's = woman's. :-)
DeleteHappy new year!
Happy new year to you, and all regulars here!
Delete(I left Woman's as "women's" deliberately, since that was how he had written it.)
“Every" is a pretty broad brush stroke… Should we be saying every man is a misogynist? Both are patently inaccurate and unfair to the good guys, female and male.
ReplyDelete