tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post178220707201617470..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-59904287197398308062014-04-23T11:07:10.672-04:002014-04-23T11:07:10.672-04:00Ducky, you READ a great deal more than I do, but I...Ducky, you READ a great deal more than I do, but I'm fairly certain that i THINK more than you do. <br /><br />I've often been accused of sounding like so-and-so, but it's equally true that so-and-so could be accused of sounding like <i>me,</i> but I assure you there has been no collusion between us. I have always drawn my own conclusions from long observation, and articulate them in my own way.<br /><br />Of course I've been heavily influenced by my background, but I am very proud of my forebears and very grateful for the teachers and schooling I've had -- warts and all.<br /><br />I used to be a malcontent too, but fortunately, I learned long ago that indulging in tantrums, falling prey to anxiety attacks while griping incessantly about reality does nothing to change or ameliorate it. <br /><br />Of one thing I am certain: Expressing too much "concern" over the plight of others far removed from oneself isially indicates that one is giving ineself short shrift, and failing to meet the real needs of family, friends and employers. "Activism" is either a Power Trip or a Copout on the part of the activist. <br /><br />Alruism rarely-if-ever has anything to do with it, unless you're in that very rare category that belongs to such as Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, Florence Nightingale, the men in battle who gave their lives to save those of their fellow soldiers, and a host of others less prominent who put their lives on the line for the sake of others without calling attention to themselves or descending to the level of a chronic scold.<br /><br />There is a world of difference between SAINTS, BUSYBODIES and those carping, whining, caviling, scoffing souls who spend their lives endless accusing others of malfeasance, poor judgment and moral deficiency.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-147197022622582992014-04-23T10:24:34.730-04:002014-04-23T10:24:34.730-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Jennanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-87505822728463292502014-04-23T10:16:07.941-04:002014-04-23T10:16:07.941-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Jennanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-68521375783563839432014-04-23T08:53:07.946-04:002014-04-23T08:53:07.946-04:00As America becomes more secular religoon will play...As America becomes more secular religoon will play an ever more diminished roll in politics.<br /><br />True believers will fight hard to maintain the influence of faith in politics.<br /><br /><br /><br />The Other Truthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-74886896349700528512014-04-23T08:33:55.926-04:002014-04-23T08:33:55.926-04:00Jenna, my dear, if we paid more attention to Jesus...Jenna, my dear, if we paid more attention to Jesus and less to all the divisive nonsense that seems to beset us, most of the problems we encounter in politics and elsewhere would, as Shakespeare's Hamlet put it, <i>"thaw, melt, and resolve themselves into a dew."</i><br /><br />So, while we will continue to traipse around in the world of Art, Music, Poetry, Religion, Popular Culture, and the too-often-vile subject of Politics, you will probably hear moire and more about Jesus -- as I understand Him -- not less.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-57415064438922453482014-04-23T07:16:08.857-04:002014-04-23T07:16:08.857-04:00Less Jesus and More anti liberal-progressive blogs...Less Jesus and More anti liberal-progressive blogs.....PleaseJenna F.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-86381383173749890362014-04-22T22:17:46.751-04:002014-04-22T22:17:46.751-04:00You ever read Paul Goodman's Growing Up Absurd...You ever read Paul Goodman's <i>Growing Up Absurd</i>, FT?<br /><br />I'm struck by how much that left winger and you see so much congruently.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-8976558653810521262014-04-22T21:40:39.458-04:002014-04-22T21:40:39.458-04:00"The problem is a more general one, it concer...<i>"The problem is a more general one, it concerns the core of German ideological identity."</i><br /><br />Does no one ever consider the "problem" of JEWISH ideological identity? Their millennias-old insistence on living as a separate people within each and every group, country and region they've inhabited, and maintaining attitudes, mores and values contrary to those of the majority everywhere they live is the primary source of all the woe they have in fact brought on themselves.<br /><br />It's reminiscent of the old story about the grandmother watching Johnny, her teen-aged grandson march in the Memorial Day Parade with his scout troop. The young men were all marching along LEFT-right LEFT-right, LEFT-right ... except Johnny who was doing the opposite, RIGHT-left, RIGHT-left, RIGHT-left etc.<br /><br />The grandmother, however, wasn't fazed a bit, nor was she in any way embarrassed. Instead she proudly shouted out loud enough to be heard above the band, <b>"Oh, LOOK!" she cried, "everbody's out of step, but Johnny!"</b><br /><br />If you don't "get it," no amount of explanation on my part-- or anyone else's-- would be of any use.<br /><br />It only stands to reason that looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope is bound to give you a hopelessly distorted view of reality.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-28249991873971845212014-04-22T17:04:04.430-04:002014-04-22T17:04:04.430-04:00Show a little Clemenza di Tutte!Show a little Clemenza di <a href="http://youtu.be/dgiszW1pVUY" rel="nofollow">Tutte</a>!Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-1813258079113029862014-04-22T16:58:30.304-04:002014-04-22T16:58:30.304-04:00Historicism, as a critical insight, is today only ...<a href="http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/ijzs/article/viewFile/294/362" rel="nofollow">Historicism</a>, as a critical insight, is today only still suitable for certifiable Red Diaper babies like ducky.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-5594207282310436922014-04-22T16:48:09.716-04:002014-04-22T16:48:09.716-04:00...AND duck-walked through the market place!
Li......AND <a href="http://farmersletters.blogspot.com/2014/04/disassociative.html" rel="nofollow">duck-walked</a> through the market place! <br /><br />Lighten up, Cosima. You're beginning to speak with a <a href="http://youtu.be/4BJDNw7o6so" rel="nofollow">Liszt</a>Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-49871959421862355542014-04-22T16:07:37.944-04:002014-04-22T16:07:37.944-04:00Cosima Fan Tutte said
This blog is an affront to ...<b>Cosima Fan Tutte said</b><br /><br />This blog is an affront to human dignity. You should be ostracized.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30835300734574102932014-04-22T12:46:10.227-04:002014-04-22T12:46:10.227-04:00The Lacanian principal is called "in-the-name...The Lacanian principal is called "in-the-name-of-the-father"<br /><br /><i>Thus, one might say that the Lacanian zero-point in terms of infant development is precisely at the point of introduction to the symbolic order by the father. The pre-constructed and already extant Symbolic order represents a sort of structural field that is the phallic signifier. In other words, the Symbolic order represents that which is the Name-of-the-Father. It appears to the child as the ‘In-between’ in the transition from “nature” to “culture”, because the Symbolic order introduced by the father represents the immediacy of signifiers, codes, language, and law. As Lacan writes: “It is in the name of the father that we must recognize the support of the symbolic function which, from the dawn of history, has identified his person with the figure of the law …/ as distinct from Imaginary, narcissistic relations, or even from the real relations, that the subject sustains with the image and action of the person who embodies it” (Lacan, 1985).</i> - RC Smith, <a href="http://www.heathwoodpress.com/ticklish-subject-excerpts-critique-lacanian-subject-zizeks-notion-political-subjectivity-emphasis-alternative/" rel="nofollow">The Ticklish Subject: A Critique of the lacanian subject and Zizek's notion of political subjectivity, with emphasis on an alternative"</a>Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-52497956421438918162014-04-22T12:02:21.177-04:002014-04-22T12:02:21.177-04:00erreatum grand-father.erreatum <i>grand</i>-father.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75082356222973354612014-04-22T12:01:07.322-04:002014-04-22T12:01:07.322-04:00I would only add that every army, every corporatio...I would only add that every army, every corporation, and every nation needs a name. That name does not need to be, but often is, synonymous with the primary elements that shape it. G_d included (for the "atheists" like Les' father).Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-47488471124928145952014-04-22T09:41:05.838-04:002014-04-22T09:41:05.838-04:00I would add that government, even our republic can...I would add that government, even our republic can not consist of all Speakers of the House, Senate Majority Leaders, or Presidents. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people requires people, some who lead and the majority to follow. In that an arguement I think can be made that humans in FAITH, RELIGION, and GOVERMANCE tend towards the COLLECTIVE desires and will to function and maintain cohesiveness.<br /><br />When we die one, or more of our vital organs and the process of sustaining life (even the single sell carrying nutrients has life) ceases to function and the entire system of life shuts down.<br /><br />One of my grandfathers held that since matter cannot be destroyed, it merely changes form he would live forever in the cosmos. Who knows? He was an atheist.Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-4246967399112568362014-04-22T08:04:47.261-04:002014-04-22T08:04:47.261-04:00To Ducky and to you too, Les, I can only bear down...To Ducky and to you too, Les, I can only bear down in what-should-be obvious.<br /><br />An army cannot be made up entirely of Generals.<br /><br />A school cannot be made up only of Principals.<br /><br />An orchestra cannot be manned solely by Conductors.<br /><br />An edifice cannot be constructed solely by Architects.<br /><br />No worthy symphony, concerto, sonata, song cycle, opera, ballet, string quartet or piece for wind ensemble or marching band was ever produced by a committee.<br /><br />Fire will burn you.<br /><br />Water will make you wet.<br /><br />No one's body can function without the presence of Life and at least a modicum of Intelligence.<br /><br />When we die, what precisely is <i>missing</i> from the body we once inhabited? FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-29296332955954528002014-04-22T07:53:20.534-04:002014-04-22T07:53:20.534-04:00Thank you for that, AOW. I am always happy when at...Thank you for that, AOW. I am always happy when at least one person sees my point.<br /><br />Most of us are eager to say what <i>we</i> have to say, we rarely take time to listen to others with honest curiosity, and make the necessary effort to try to understand what <i>they</i> are trying to tell us, and why. FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-4345689556269912952014-04-22T05:44:27.714-04:002014-04-22T05:44:27.714-04:00FT,
Great Music, Art, Literature and Architecture ...FT,<br /><i>Great Music, Art, Literature and Architecture speak directly to our souls, and reveal more of God's Essence than all the fear based teaching, preaching, admonition and pretensions to piety we've ever inflicted on each other...</i><br /><br />Amen to that!<br /><br />In addition, great music, art, literature and architecture are food for the soul.Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-69145647298140465442014-04-21T22:31:59.175-04:002014-04-21T22:31:59.175-04:00Worship any doctrine formulated, packaged, and sol...Worship any doctrine formulated, packaged, and sold to the masses and your are a prisoner of another's thoughts and ideology.Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-52904622123412916592014-04-21T22:28:16.672-04:002014-04-21T22:28:16.672-04:00Building hives... does that fall in the collective...Building hives... does that fall in the collective or the individual?<br /><br />Personally, and perhaps it is just me, I always viewed Christ (and religion) as a collectivist.<br /><br />I could be wrong and would welcome someone proving me so. But, so far no one has been able to.Les Carpenterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01120280762698472496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-66880700336648196292014-04-21T22:22:22.452-04:002014-04-21T22:22:22.452-04:00Ducky, you are no different from any other fundame...Ducky, you are no different from any other fundamentalist. The God you worship is Karl Marx, and you are as much a prisoner of the orthodoxies of the religion he founded as any follower of Mohammed, Savonarola, Oliver Cromwell, the New England Puritans, the Zionists, or Osama bin Laden. FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-88963755957412673452014-04-21T22:02:35.977-04:002014-04-21T22:02:35.977-04:00A Worker Reads History
Who built the seven gates ...A Worker Reads History<br /><br />Who built the seven gates of Thebes?<br />The books are filled with names of kings.<br />Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?<br />And Babylon, so many times destroyed.<br />Who built the city up each time? In which of Lima's houses,<br />That city glittering with gold, lived those who built it?<br />In the evening when the Chinese wall was finished<br />Where did the masons go? Imperial Rome<br />Is full of arcs of triumph. Who reared them up? Over whom<br />Did the Caesars triumph? Byzantium lives in song.<br />Were all her dwellings palaces? And even in Atlantis of the legend<br />The night the seas rushed in,<br />The drowning men still bellowed for their slaves.<br /><br />Young Alexander conquered India.<br />He alone?<br />Caesar beat the Gauls.<br />Was there not even a cook in his army?<br />Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet<br />was sunk and destroyed. Were there no other tears?<br />Frederick the Greek triumphed in the Seven Years War.<br />Who triumphed with him?<br /><br />Each page a victory<br />At whose expense the victory ball?<br />Every ten years a great man,<br />Who paid the piper?<br /><br />So many particulars.<br />So many questions.<br /><br /><br /> --- Bertolt BrechtDucky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-61020829353001547982014-04-21T21:17:44.857-04:002014-04-21T21:17:44.857-04:00"... the lectures aren't going to penetra...<i>"... the lectures aren't going to penetrate."</i><br /><br /><b>WHAT A PITY!</b><br /><br />It's a rather terrible thing to regard Truth as Tripe and Tripe as Truth, which is what you tend to do, Ducky. Perhaps if you could give cogent reasons to support your point of view, I might listen, but that never happens, all I ever get from you is overt detestation for mine, so we shall very likely remain at an impasse.<br /><br />I'm glad we can at least talk about music. <br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-4330156647494247832014-04-21T19:03:25.032-04:002014-04-21T19:03:25.032-04:00Not to wax trite but if your God condones Dalrympl...Not to wax trite but if your God condones Dalrymple's tripe and limits people's humanity then your OBLIGATION is to rebel and defy that God.<br />Mine is nothing like yours so the lectures aren't going to penetrate.<br />Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.com