And this idea of "American exceptional ism" that every politician has to pay lip-service to, and seems Bill was referencing, is equally repulsive and unrealistic.
THIS IS NOT A TEST
- Thread starter mjp
- Start date
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
When by definition EVERYTHING that a country does HAS to be good and perfect, the biggest problem is that when this country does something awful (like invading a sovereign country and killing a million of its people or nuking to death a quarter million people), in the minds of the people, it MUST be good as America would NEVER do anything that was not good.
It is the same arguments that fundies use with respect to the god of Abraham. If the god of Abraham does it, then it has to be good. Killing children. Good, punishing women because they beliece that one woman ate an apple, good stuff there. Since their god can only do good, every awful, sadistic thing that he does, is by the fact that HE did it, good.
People need to look at what a person or country (or company, etc) does based on its merits (good or bad), not on the loyalty that makes them compelled to NOT criticize it and in fact embrace it based on that loyalty.
It is the same arguments that fundies use with respect to the god of Abraham. If the god of Abraham does it, then it has to be good. Killing children. Good, punishing women because they beliece that one woman ate an apple, good stuff there. Since their god can only do good, every awful, sadistic thing that he does, is by the fact that HE did it, good.
People need to look at what a person or country (or company, etc) does based on its merits (good or bad), not on the loyalty that makes them compelled to NOT criticize it and in fact embrace it based on that loyalty.
Skygazer
And in the end...
I think everybody should lay the blame at Reagan's feet, bugger it - it just feels right.
Seen from a distance through, the American media gives the rest of the world a skewered ( I hope) view of what real Americans think about their foreign policy, with Europe tagging along at it's backside of course.
I don't think it is as gungho as it's portrayed. I suppose it all boils down to intentions and whether doing harm when you are trying to do good is a lesser crime than being an out and out psychotic nutjob of a country.
Two Americans I really like are Noam Chomsky and Sam Harris, both serious thinkers, Harris is a bit right wing for me, but nonetheless I like to hear and read him debate, but there was a recent e-mail spat between them and Harris scared me a little with his view on the Middle East.
It's a bit strained and very, very polite but I think a real spat is going on:
. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-limits-of-discourse
Seen from a distance through, the American media gives the rest of the world a skewered ( I hope) view of what real Americans think about their foreign policy, with Europe tagging along at it's backside of course.
I don't think it is as gungho as it's portrayed. I suppose it all boils down to intentions and whether doing harm when you are trying to do good is a lesser crime than being an out and out psychotic nutjob of a country.
Two Americans I really like are Noam Chomsky and Sam Harris, both serious thinkers, Harris is a bit right wing for me, but nonetheless I like to hear and read him debate, but there was a recent e-mail spat between them and Harris scared me a little with his view on the Middle East.
It's a bit strained and very, very polite but I think a real spat is going on:
. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-limits-of-discourse
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
I think that in the US, 30% of people are in the "America is PERFECT as Jesus created it" camp. These are your tea party douchebags and they all have a lot of clothing made out of or depicting the US flag. (They LOVE the country as long as the president is a white man), 40% don't pay much attention to anything except sports and posting selfies with their duckfaces. These folks also believe that we are the bestest country in the whole universe (amen!!!!!) but don't think about it too much as that cuts into their time watching the Kardashians. Then you have 30% of the population that know that America has things that we have done to be VERY proud of, as well as some things that we should be ashamed of. Of that number, most people keep their mouths shut as the other 70% of Americans don;t see anything but black and white. They feel that anyone in any way critical of anything AMERICAN is anti-American.
Skygazer
And in the end...
About the same as here then:)
I'm still unsure about what the Kardashians are, apart from being beautiful girls (not sure how many), who have put big bottoms on the map again in a way not seen since the bustles of 1882 - handy for balancing the tea tray on too.
PS Great to see Ireland voting Yes to gay marriages. A rejection of the argument from the No camp (no pun intended) that the countries that have it, it was inflicted by a politically correct voting elite in government.
A huge vote of yes for human rights and a big break from the Catholic Church and it's power in Ireland. .
mjp
Founding member
Well if it wasn't the liberal government then it must have been the liberal media!
It's a tried and true conservative (or any group on the wrong side of history) tactic, one that they'll trot out and use even when they happen to be in the majority in politics and/or "the media." Because apparently up is down now, and you'll always be susceptible to the corrupting influence of SATAN and the liberals. Or whatever the "other" is. What power the other has! Robbing you of your reason and your scriptures. That's clearly what it is. I mean, what else could it be?
Skygazer
And in the end...
Appears to have happened already, over in the Church of WTF Just Happened, aka The Vatican: “I was deeply saddened by the result,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said at a conference in Rome on Tuesday night." calling it "a defeat for humanity".
The Archbishop of Dublin showed a little more grace and political savvy by saying it was a "reality check" for the church and they needed to adapt, all for that I think?? Cheers Ireland:D
The Archbishop of Dublin showed a little more grace and political savvy by saying it was a "reality check" for the church and they needed to adapt, all for that I think?? Cheers Ireland:D
mjp
Founding member
Seeking the analog in a digital world – THIS IS NOT A TEST #23
Starring Mary Ellen Mark, Bukowski's LouJon press books, book art, letterpress, getting your hands dirty, kissing the paper, manual typewriters, nostalgia, home tanneries in Brooklyn, synthesizers, late 50s Les Pauls, craftsmanship, Kalamazoo Michigan, robots, green wood, perpetual motion, Detroit steel, making rich people more rich, buying Bukowski's boyhood home, gentrification, turning all of Los Angeles into one big Universal back lot, Giza, slaves, lunch trucks and the Library of Congress.
http://thisisnotatest.com/seeking-the-analog-in-a-digital-world-this-is-not-a-test-23
Subscribe, yo!
Starring Mary Ellen Mark, Bukowski's LouJon press books, book art, letterpress, getting your hands dirty, kissing the paper, manual typewriters, nostalgia, home tanneries in Brooklyn, synthesizers, late 50s Les Pauls, craftsmanship, Kalamazoo Michigan, robots, green wood, perpetual motion, Detroit steel, making rich people more rich, buying Bukowski's boyhood home, gentrification, turning all of Los Angeles into one big Universal back lot, Giza, slaves, lunch trucks and the Library of Congress.
http://thisisnotatest.com/seeking-the-analog-in-a-digital-world-this-is-not-a-test-23
Subscribe, yo!
Nice - again.
I find myself happily getting up early on saturdays now, enjoying coffee, croissants and podcast.
Notes
- I'm longing for the times past when nostalgia was more affordable
- I'd like to build myself an old building and it would look like Montaigne's tower
- someone should invent a robotic device you can plug into usb; with 10 fingers that can type out your computer text on an old mechanical typewriter
I find myself happily getting up early on saturdays now, enjoying coffee, croissants and podcast.
Notes
- I'm longing for the times past when nostalgia was more affordable
- I'd like to build myself an old building and it would look like Montaigne's tower
- someone should invent a robotic device you can plug into usb; with 10 fingers that can type out your computer text on an old mechanical typewriter
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
I like the 'play in a new window' option.
mjp
Founding member
@Black Swan I'm glad you like that, but I just switched over to a new player that doesn't have that option, sorry.
I liked the old player too, but I made the switch because this new thing allows me to have a post at the top of the page that allows people to play any of the episodes without scrolling around and hunting for something specific.
Progress, you know.
I liked the old player too, but I made the switch because this new thing allows me to have a post at the top of the page that allows people to play any of the episodes without scrolling around and hunting for something specific.
Progress, you know.
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
Oh well! :)
mjp
Founding member
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood – THIS IS NOT A TEST #24
Well, I have a little chest congestion, so forgive the slight wheezing as I talk about President Obama, the Los Angeles Clippers, fast forwarding, neighbors, construction, This Old House as porn, people who are good at what they do, working on Sunday, the history of sticking windows into walls, the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, chatty Cathy, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, corrugated fiberglass, Styrofoam heads, evidence of a grow house, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Gandhi, bus stop ads, Adam Sandler's idiotic baby talk characters, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Marc Maron, racism, Bob Dylan and Joe Dirt.
http://thisisnotatest.com/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood
Subscribe, yo!
Well, I have a little chest congestion, so forgive the slight wheezing as I talk about President Obama, the Los Angeles Clippers, fast forwarding, neighbors, construction, This Old House as porn, people who are good at what they do, working on Sunday, the history of sticking windows into walls, the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, chatty Cathy, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, corrugated fiberglass, Styrofoam heads, evidence of a grow house, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Gandhi, bus stop ads, Adam Sandler's idiotic baby talk characters, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Marc Maron, racism, Bob Dylan and Joe Dirt.
http://thisisnotatest.com/its-a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood
Subscribe, yo!
mjp
Founding member
I have a tablet running Android 4.4.4 and it works on there (in Chrome). I don't have Firefox on there to test it, but I'll try it later today.
Yeah, I said the same thing myself...almost half a year now. Doesn't seem probable, but there it is.
mjp
Founding member
The eternal search for the next new sound – THIS IS NOT A TEST #25
Thrill to the new sound of me talking about Rachel Dolezal, dreadlocks, our old friend the Internet, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Vocoder, the tinny clang of the 80s, electric guitars, triggers, metal kids, mistakes, Gramophones, fuzzy noisemakers, the Mellotron, Guitar Center, Louis Armstrong, transcendence, cocked wahs, bagpipes and momentum.
http://thisisnotatest.com/the-eternal-search-for-the-next-new-sound-this-is-not-a-test-25
Subscribe, yo!
My download/listen numbers have gone down a little bit since I did an episode where I suggested that politicians should stop talking about Jesus. I wouldn't have thought that anyone who listens to this would be so offended by that idea, or the way I said it, that they'd stop listening, but I guess I was wrong.
To them I say, good riddance!
Thrill to the new sound of me talking about Rachel Dolezal, dreadlocks, our old friend the Internet, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Vocoder, the tinny clang of the 80s, electric guitars, triggers, metal kids, mistakes, Gramophones, fuzzy noisemakers, the Mellotron, Guitar Center, Louis Armstrong, transcendence, cocked wahs, bagpipes and momentum.
http://thisisnotatest.com/the-eternal-search-for-the-next-new-sound-this-is-not-a-test-25
Subscribe, yo!
My download/listen numbers have gone down a little bit since I did an episode where I suggested that politicians should stop talking about Jesus. I wouldn't have thought that anyone who listens to this would be so offended by that idea, or the way I said it, that they'd stop listening, but I guess I was wrong.
To them I say, good riddance!
mjp
Founding member
An hour? Are you trying to kill me?!
That might happen once in a while, but they seem to have settled in to the 30 minutes or so that they are now. That's where they feel done to me without being overdone.
When everything's said and done, it probably takes me six hours (spread out over a few days) to get those 30 minutes up there. Which is why most podcasts are interviews or people talking about TV shows or video games or something. Because that's a lot easier. The Mat Gleason episodes were 90 minutes total and I spent about 15 minutes preparing for that.
That might happen once in a while, but they seem to have settled in to the 30 minutes or so that they are now. That's where they feel done to me without being overdone.
When everything's said and done, it probably takes me six hours (spread out over a few days) to get those 30 minutes up there. Which is why most podcasts are interviews or people talking about TV shows or video games or something. Because that's a lot easier. The Mat Gleason episodes were 90 minutes total and I spent about 15 minutes preparing for that.
mjp
Founding member
Well, to be fair, it was only one of the guys in the band who felt that way, and I think my time with them was coming to an end anyway. Three years seeing the same people everyday is enough for anyone.
But as far as authenticity goes, I think if you have a drummer and bass player from the Caribbean you've got the essential ingredients for an authentic reggae band, whatever else you sprinkle into the mix. But I have to say, even though I was that guy, it always strikes me as odd to see that one white guy who always seems to be in every reggae band. I'm always like, "What are you doing, dude?"
But music is music, man. If you feel it you can swing it!
But as far as authenticity goes, I think if you have a drummer and bass player from the Caribbean you've got the essential ingredients for an authentic reggae band, whatever else you sprinkle into the mix. But I have to say, even though I was that guy, it always strikes me as odd to see that one white guy who always seems to be in every reggae band. I'm always like, "What are you doing, dude?"
But music is music, man. If you feel it you can swing it!
